The Indian duo of Sania Mirza and Rohan Bopanna lost the final of the mixed doubles category today at the Australian Open 2023 to the Brazilian duo of Luisa Stefani and Rafael Matos.
The Indian pair reached the finals of the Grand Slam by beating Neal Skupski and Desirae Krawczyk in a three-set thriller 7-6 (7-5), 6-7 (5-7), and 10-6 in the third set which was a super tie-breaker.
The Brazilians reached the finals beating Australia’s Olivia Gadecki and Marc Polmans again in a three-set thriller. The Brazilians lost the first set against them but then made a comeback and won the match 4-6, 6-4, and 11-9 in the super tie-breaker.
Wholesome content alert 👶@MirzaSania's son, Izhaan, ran out on court to celebrate her reaching the #AusOpen mixed doubles final 🥰#AO2023 pic.twitter.com/VLiHGSRgiN
— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) January 25, 2023
The Indians lost today’s match with a score of 6-7 (2-7), 2-6 in straight sets. The score might not show but the Indian pair gave a very tough fight but proved to be unlucky at some stages in the match. This was the first Grand Slam title together for the Brazilian duo of Luisa Stefani and Rafael Matos.
With this match, Indian legend Sania Mirza has also bid farewell to the world of tennis. Popularly known as the queen of Indian tennis, Mirza has now ended her professional tennis career with a total of six Grand Slam Titles in different categories.
“My professional career started in Melbourne… I couldn’t think of a better arena to finish my [Grand Slam] career at.”
We love you, Sania ❤️@MirzaSania • #AusOpen • #AO2023 pic.twitter.com/E0dNogh1d0
— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) January 27, 2023
The table below shows all her Grand Slam titles in different categories and with different partners.
| GRAND SLAM | CATEGORY | PARTNER |
| AUSTRALIAN OPEN 2009 | MIXED DOUBLES | SANIA MIRZA & MAHESH BHUPATHI |
| FRENCH OPEN 2012 | MIXED DOUBLES | SANIA MIRZA & MAHESH BHUPATHI |
| US OPEN 2014 | MIXED DOUBLES | SANIA MIRZA & BRUNO SOARES |
| US OPEN 2015 | WOMEN’S DOUBLES | SANIA MIRZA & MARTINA HINGIS |
| WIMBLEDON 2015 | WOMEN’S DOUBLES | SANIA MIRZA & MARTINA HINGIS |
| AUSTRALIAN OPEN 2016 | WOMEN’S DOUBLES | SANIA MIRZA & MARTINA HINGIS |
Rohan Bopanna will continue to play tennis as of now and he still feels he has that extra in him which is required to play at an age of 42. He certainly is another legend in the history of Indian tennis and has the potential to win a few more Grand Slams.
Sania Mirza now has applied breaks to her illustrious tennis career and can be very proud of whatever she has achieved through the years. We wish her a happy retirement life ahead!
