Internet Desk : What a way to start the season for San-Tina as they won their sixth consecutive title by lifting the WTA Brisbane International on Saturday. The top seeds Indo-Swiss pair of Sania Mirza and Martina Hingis clinched victory against the German wildcards Angelique Kerber and Andrea Petkovic 7-5, 6-1 in just 69 minutes.
Sania and Martina, the world number one team, is now on a 26-match winning streak , which has brought them six titles in a row at the US Open, Guangzhou, Wuhan, Beijing, WTA Finals and now here.
The Indo-Swiss pair drew the first blood by breaking the rivals in the second game but the joy was short-lived as Kerber and Petkovic reeled off four straight games to take a 4-2 lead in the opening set. Sania and Martina though were not perturbed, having defused such situations many times in the last few months. They went about their business calmly and restored the parity with another break.Soon it was 4-4 and the Indo-Swiss combination held the ninth game, forcing Kerber and Petkovic to serve under pressure and remain alive in the set. The unseeded team though did not crack and stayed solid to make it 5-5.Kerber and Petkovic again served at 5-6 to stretch it to a tie-breaker but offered two break chances to Sania and Martina and the top seeds obliged on second to nose ahead.The top seeds controlled the game better in the second set, racing to a 3-0 lead by breaking their rivals in the second game.Then the Indo-Swiss pair lost only one game before closing the match in their favor.
It is the longest winning streak since Italians Sara Errani and Roberta Vinci’s 25 in a row in 2012. Sara and Roberta had won five titles in a row, at Barcelona, Madrid, Rome, the French Open and ‘S-Hertogenbosch.