Dubai Tennis Championships: Sania Mirza-Lucie Hradecka enter women’s doubles semi-finals

The Indo-Czech pair will take on the winner of the match between top seeds Ena Shibahara-Shuai Zhang and Lyudmyla Kichenok-Jelena Ostapenko.

Sania Mirza in action (Courtesy: Sania Mirza/Twitter)
By Samrat Chakraborty | Feb 17, 2022 | 2 Min Read follow icon Follow Us

India’s hope at Dubai Tennis Championships marched forward as veteran Sania Mirza and her partner Lucie Hradecka entered the women’s doubles semi-final on Thursday. The Indo-Czech pair outclassed their opponent Japan’s Shuko Aoyama and Serbia’s Aleksandra Krunic 7-5, 6-3 to enter the final four of the WTA 500 tournament. The first set turned out to be a neck and neck battle but Mirza-Hradecka held and edge over their opponents and came back stronger in the second set to close the set and seal the deal relative ease. 

The pair who had received a wild card for the tournament will now take on the winner of the match between top seeds Japan’s Ena Shibahara and China’s Shuai Zhang and Ukraine’s Lyudmyla Kichenok and Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia

Mirza lifted the Dubai Tennis Championships in 2013 with USA’s Bethanie Mattek-Sand.

Sania Mirza’s run at Dubai Tennis Championships 

The Indo-Czech pair of Sania Mirza and Lucie Hradecka overcame World No.12 Demi Schuurs of the Netherlands and Chinese Taipei’s Chan Hao-Ching 7-6, 5-7, 11-9 in one hour 55 minutes on Tuesday night to enter the women’s doubles quarter-finals.

It was a hard fought win for the Indo-Czech pair as they came back stronger after losing the second set and held their nerves to close the game and advance to the next round. 

The Indo-Czech pair’s next opponent Aoyama and Krunic defeated fourth seeds Gabriela Dabrowski of Canada and Giuliana Olmos of Mexico 7(7)-6(5), 2-6, 10-5 in their round of 16 match.

India’s most accomplished women’s tennis player will hang up her boots after the ongoing season. She has won six Grand Slam titles which includes three mixed doubles trophies.

Mirza feels that her recovery rate has reduced and she wants to give more time to her son who has been traveling with her for the tournaments across the globe.

“There’s a bunch reasons for it. It’s not as simple as ‘okay I’m not going to play’. I do feel my recovery is taking longer, I do feel, considering my son is three years old, I’m putting him at risk by travelling so much with him, that’s something I have to take into account. Unfortunately, the pandemic is making us take certain decision for the well-being of ourself and family” Mirza had earlier said at the post-match press conference.

“Also, my body is wearing down. My knee was really hurting today and I’m not saying that’s the reason we lost but I do think that it is taking time to recover as I’m getting older,” she said.

READ MORE: Rohan Bopanna-Ramkumar Ramanathan win doubles title in Pune





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