Australian Open: Murray beats Raonic, to face Djokovic in final
MELBOURNE: Top seeded women’s doubles pair of Sania Mirza and Martina Hingis overwhelmed Czech seventh seeds Andrea Hlavackova and Lucie Hradecka 7-6 (1), 6-3 to win the Australian Open crown here on Friday. It was the World No.1 doubles team’s 36th consecutive win and third straight Grand Slam victory after winning the Wimbledon and US Open last year. They also won the yearending Women’s Tour Association (WTA) finals last year. The Sania-Martina juggernaut, that began rolling in August last year, showed no signs of abetting at the Melbourne Park. They continued their supreme form and grabbed their eighth successive title, and 12th overall, in 109 minutes. They began 2016 by winning in Brisbane and Sydney. It was Sania’s second Australian Open title. She first won the mixed doubles title in 2009 with Mahesh Bhupathi. Sania, 29, has now six Grand Slam titles to her credit.
It was the 35-year-old Martina’s 12th women’s doubles title. The first set was evenly contested on Friday as both teams tried to seize the initiative. It took Sania and Martina 62 minutes to determine its fate, an indicator of severe nature of the battle. Both teams won four break points in the first set and were even in almost every aspect. The Indo-Swiss pair hit 17 winners, one less than their opponents, and committed 17 unforced errors, one more than them. But they won 50 of the total 96 points played in the first set. Each point was fiercely fought as several long rallies were played with the action unfolding at a swift pace. The set went its full distance and Sania-Hingis were at their dominant best in the tiebreak, clinching it 7-1. But the Czech pair refused to bow without a fight and promptly broke back twice to make it 5-3. But it only spurred Sania-Martina, dubbed SanTina by their fans, as they closed out the contest in the next service game. Meanwhile, Andy Murray twice fought back from a set down to win a gruelling five-setter against injury-hampered Milos Raonic on Friday and reach his latest Australian Open final against five-time champion Novak Djokovic. The four-time runner-up reached his fifth final at Melbourne Park after overcoming the gallant Canadian 4-6, 7-5, 6-7 (4/7), 6-4, 6-2 in four hours, three minutes on Rod Laver Arena. Djokovic has already beaten Murray in three Australian Open finals and the world number one will get the advantage of an extra day’s rest after he knocked out Roger Federer in four sets in Thursday’s semi-final. It will be Murray’s ninth Grand Slam final as the Briton, up against the dominant Serb once again, chases an elusive third major title after winning the US Open in 2012 and Wimbledon in 2013. “It was tough because he (Raonic) didn’t miss one first serve in the (third set) tiebreaker and he has one of the best serves in tennis,” Murray said. “I started to get a better read on his serves as the match went on as I was making a few more returns, that was the key.” It will also be the first time two brothers have played the singles and doubles finals at the same Grand Slam after Jamie Murray reached the men’s doubles final with his Brazilian partner Bruno Soares. Andy Murray’s win over Raonic was the 28-year-old Scot’s fourth win in seven encounters with the muchimproved Canadian, who slowed in the final set and completed the match grimacing from a right groin injury. “That’s something I’ve learned over the years of playing. When I’m playing a match, I’m not thinking about what he was going through,” Murray said of Raonic’s plight. (Agencies)