Sania out in semis, bids farewell to Wimbledon

LONDON: Sania Mirza’s swansong at Wimbledon ended in a semi-final defeat in the mixed doubles event here on Wednesday.

Sania and her Croatian partner Mate Pavic, seeded sixth, went down 6-4, 5-7, 4-6 to defending champions Desirae Krawczyk (USA) and Neal Skupski (Great Britain). The 35-year-old was aiming to complete a career Slam in mixed doubles. She had won the mixed doubles titles at the 2009 Australian Open, 2012 French Open and 2014 US Open.

“The tears and the joy, the fight and the struggle.. the work we put in is all worth it in the end.. it wasn’t meant to be this year at Wimbledon but you have been nothing but spectacular. It has been an honor to play here and win here in the last 20 years.. I will miss you until we meet again,” Sania wrote on social media.

Sania and Pavic dominated the opening set and led 4-2 in the second, but the duo lost five of the next six games as Krawczyk and Skupski forced the decider. In the third set, Sania and Pavic drew first blood by breaking serve, but were immediately broken back. In the 12th game, Pavic double faulted while Krawczyk and Skupski got the job done.

While Sania was eliminated in the last-four stage, she enjoyed her best mixed doubles performance at the All England Club. The veteran had reached the quarter-finals in 2011, 2013 and 2015. Sania lost her Wimbledon 2022 women’s doubles opener alongside Czech Republic’s Lucie Hradecka and bid farewell to the event with one title, which she had clinched in 2015 while playing with Martina Hingis.

RESULT: Mixed doubles: Semi-finals: Sania/M Pavic lost to D Krawczyk/N Skupski 6-4, 5-7, 4-6