Indian tennis ace Sania Mirza and her Swiss partner Martina Hingis beat seventh seeded Czech combination of Andrea Hlavackova and Lucie Hradecka to win Australian Open women's doubles title. Top seeds Sania and Martina, who are on a record winning streak, continued to rule the roost as they defeated the Czech pair 7-6, 6-3 at the Rod Laver Arena.
Hlavackova and Hradecka broke Martina's serve in the third game of the first set to take a 2-1 lead but the Indo-Swiss pair fought back in the next game to make it 2-2 by breaking Hlavackova's serve. The Czech pair then broke Sania's serve in the next game to take a 3-2 lead in the first set but not to be written off, Sania and Martina broke Hradecka's serve to make it 3-3.
Hlavackova and Hradecka again broke Martina's serve to take a 4-3 lead but Sania and Martina fought back again to break Hlavackova's serve to bring it level at 4-4 in the first set. But Hlavackova and Hradecka fought fire with fire and broke Sania's serve to take a 5-4 lead in the first set. But the top seeds displayed great skills to break Hradecka's serve again to make it 5-5.
Sania and Martina then made it sure to not let it slip away by winning on Sania's serve to take a 6-5 lead but could not break Hlavackova's serve as the first set went into a tie-break at 6-6. Sania and Martina won seven points in the tie-break against Hlavackova and Hradecka's one to win the first set 7-6 in 62 minutes.
Sania and Martina won the first two games in the second set before losing the third but won the next two games to take a decisive 4-1 lead. The Czech pair broke Sania's serve in the next game but could not capitalise on it and failed to win the next game after which Martina had the advantage of serving for the match but her serve was broken by the determined Czech pair to make it 5-3.
Hlavackova and Hradecka saved three championship points on Hradecka's serve but could not avert defeat as Sania and Martina were successful on the fourth to win the championship.
This is the third successive Grand Slam doubles title victory for Sania and Martina and their maiden Australian Open title as a pair adding to their Wimbledon and US Open title victories in 2015.
Continuing their superb form this year, Sania and Martina extended their unbeaten run to 36 with this title triumph. They won back-to-back titles at the Brisbane and Sydney International events, before starting their Australian Open campaign.
Djokovic beats Murray
In the men's singles final world number one Novak Djokovic beat Andy Murray in straight sets to win his sixth Australian Open title. The Serb, 28, won 6-1 7-5 7-6 (7-3) to claim his sixth Melbourne title, tying the record of Australia's Roy Emerson. Djokovic also draws level with tennis greats Bjorn Borg and Rod Laver on 11 Grand Slam titles.
Second seed Murray, 28, has now lost all five Australian Open finals he has played, four of them against Djokovic. The Scot becomes only the second man - behind his former coach Ivan Lendl at the US Open - to lose five finals at the same Grand Slam since the open era began in 1968. He was expected to head straight to the airport after the final to return to London and his wife Kim, who is due to give birth to their first child in the next two weeks.
Djokovic has now won four of the past five major tournaments, including three in a row, and will try to complete his career Grand Slam with a first French Open title in June.
Angelique Kerber stuns Serena
Angelique Kerber became the first German to win a Grand Slam title since her childhood idol Steffi Graf in 1999 when she upset world number one Serena Williams 6-4, 3-6, 6-4 to clinch the Australian Open. The 34-year-old American had been seeking her seventh Melbourne Park title and 22nd overall, which would have moved her into a tie with Graf for the most Grand Slam singles titles in the Open era. The seventh seeded Kerber, however, was not overawed by the occasion of her first grand slam final, breaking twice in the first set as Williams made 23 unforced errors.
Williams cut down on the errors to send it into a third, which Kerber, who had the opportunity to serve it out while leading 5-3 only for the American to battle back, clinched when Williams hit a volley long in the next game.
