Mirza and Hingis won their 3rd doubles title in as many tournaments, after triumphing in the Indian Wells and Miami hard-court events.
The duo hadn’t dropped a single set in their 2 prior tournaments, but was put under test on the green clay courts of Charleston, saving a match point against Anabel Medina Garrigues and Yaroslava Shvedova in the semi-finals.
On 12/04/2015 they managed to defeat Casey Dellacqua and Darija Jurak 6-0, 6-4 to lift the trophy.
Mirza became the 1st Indian woman to reach number 1 in either singles or doubles.
She has won seven WTA doubles titles over the last 12 months – Oeiras, Tokyo and the WTA Finals last year with Zimbabwe’s Cara Black, Sydney this year with American Bethanie Mattek-Sands, and her three titles with Hingis.
She also managed to secure her 3rd Grand Slam mixed doubles title last September at the US Open, with partner Bruno Soares from Brazil.
India Prime Minister Narendra Modi led an outpouring of praise Monday for Sania Mirza after she became the country’s first tennis player to be ranked No. 1 in women’s doubles.
“An excellent accomplishment @MirzaSania! Congrats on being World Number 1 in doubles,” Modi wrote on his Twitter page after Mirza won the Family Circle doubles title in Charleston.
The 28-year-old Mirza, who decided to focus on doubles in 2012 after suffering a wrist injury, won a third consecutive doubles title partnering Hingis and her 25th overall on the WTA Tour.
“It’s a dream come true,” Mirza told India’s NDTV news channel. “For me, my family, and my country too. It was a bit nervy toward the end of the second set and we were on match point twice. But that’s tennis, you have to win every point to cross the finish line, nobody gives it to you.”
Cricket great Sachin Tendulkar said Mirza was an inspiration for upcoming tennis players.
“Congratulations to @MirzaSania on being crowned World No. 1 in Doubles. Terrific achievement and will inspire more to pursue the sport,” Tendulkar tweeted.
Women’s badminton player Saina Nehwal, who hails from Mirza’s southern Indian city of Hyderabad and was briefly ranked No. 1 in singles earlier this month, also congratulated Mirza.
“MirzaSania World number 1 in doubles congratulations huge achievement. All the very best for future,” Nehwal wrote on her Twitter page.
India’s test cricket captain Virat Kohli said both Nehwal and Mirza had made the country proud.
“First Saina and now @MirzaSania. Indian women conquering the No.1 spot and making us proud! Congratulations!” he tweeted.
Married to Pakistani cricketer Shoaib Malik, Mirza had a highest singles ranking of No. 27 in 2007.
Sania Mirza becomes World No.1 in doubles
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