Bob Bryan to partner Sania Mirza in Australian Open

World no.1 doubles player Bob Bryan has confirmed that he will be partnering India’s Sania Mirza in the mixed doubles event at the upcoming Australian Open in January, 2013. The two have been in talks for a while now to team up and Bryan said the deal has now been sealed.

Speaking to the Indian newspaper Indian Express, Bob Bryan said, “Sania is a great player. So when we started talking about playing the Australian Open in 12-13, it was a no-brainer. With two grand slams under her belt, Sania has already proven herself to be a great doubles player. She has great returns and volleys which makes for a very good combination.”

Bob and brother Mike have won 12 grand slam doubles titles – the most by any team in the history of the game. They have finished the year as world no. 1s in eight of the last 10 years. Sania is currently ranked no. 12 in doubles but has been as high no. 7 earlier this year.

Mirza has won 2 grand-slam mixed doubles titles partnering with Mahesh Bhupathi on both occasions.

Bob and Sania are both deuce court players and one of them will need to switch to playing the ad-side.