India wins three titles at Wimbledon
13 Jul 2015
India scored big at the All England Lawn Tennis Club, winning three Wimbledon doubles titles at the sport's iconic grass court tournament.
(L - R) Leander Paez, Martina Hingis and Sania Mirza |
The duo took only 40 minutes to crush Austria's Alexander Peya and Hungary's Timea Babos 6-1, 6-1 in Sunday's mixed doubles final.
The victory marked the second title for 1997 Wimbledon singles champion Hingis in as many days, after she won the women's doubles crown with India's Sania Mirza. The duo overcame Russian pair Elena Vesnina in a hard fought match to win 5-7, 7-6, 7-5.
''Every kid that picks up a tennis racquet talks about winning Wimbledon or playing at Wimbledon one day, and I think I'm speaking for both of us: we feel privileged to be here,'' said Mirza, who also has mixed-doubles titles at the Australian, French and US Opens to her credit.
''Usually you're lucky to win it once,'' Hingis said. ''It's above my expectations.''
"I think last night and today was just amazing, the emotions," Hingis said yesterday.
While Paes and Hingis were cruising to victory on Centre Court, 17-year-old Sumit Nagal who was on one of the smaller courts along with his partner, Vietnam's Nam Hoang Ly, defeated American-Japanese pair Reilly Opelka and Akira Santillan to win the boys' doubles title.
Hingis and Paes also won the Australian Open mixed doubles title this year.
Paes has won eight Grand Slam mixed doubles titles and eight Grand Slam men's doubles titles and one of his mixed doubles partners before Hingis was, Martina Navratilova. They won the Wimbledon title in 2003.
"I respect them as athletes, but champions they are of life, the way they stood their ground, the way they speak, their word," Paes said of the two athletes when asked to comment and compare the two, espn.go.com reported. "Maybe sometimes even getting into a little bit of trouble about being really honest.
"At the same time they are so truthful to themselves that when they rest their heads on their pillow, they know they've done the best they can do in their life. To me, Martina Hingis is one of the most honest, truthful, straight-up person you'll ever meet ... not to mention a professional after last night."