Sania Mirza confident of winning mixed doubles title at Roland Garros

Sania Mirza of India and Horia Tecau of Romania

Although Indian ace Sania Mirza lost convincingly with partner Horia Tecau in the mixed doubles finals of the Australian Open, the 27-year-old is hoping to go one better in the next Grand Slam in France, to be held in May.

Speaking after the Melbourne loss, Sania Mirza admitted they were outplayed by the better team on the day.

She said, “We played the final against a team which had played four finals in the last four Grand Slams. They played very well, we could not do anything but we are happy we had a good tournament, made the finals of the first Grand Slam of the season,. At three-all, Mladenovic came up with two really big shots.. that kind of set the tone…until then it was even at 3-3, she hit those big returns after that the momentum swung a bit. They outplayed us really. We tried to do what we could but we should have taken our two or three chances but they had a great match.”

Sania Mirza retained her number 10 rank in women’s doubles with partner Cara Black, after a successful run to the quarterfinals. The Hyderabadi is optimistic about the road ahead.

“No, I would love to win it but finishing finals in first Grand Slam of the season is not bad either. For me, mixed doubles was a great tournament. In the women’s doubles we lost to world number one team, who also won the tournament, so we lost to the best teams. All in all, it was good, we played well. Hopefully we can win the next Grand Slam.”

The second Grand Slam of the year, Roland Garros, commences on the 25th of May.