Sania-Martina clinch Wimbledon crown

Wimbledon, July 12 : Indian tennis ace Sania Mirza defied all odds to win her maiden women's doubles title at a Grand Slam event by clinching the Wimbledon crown with Swiss veteran Martina Hingis here. The top seeded duo made a remarkable comeback to beat Russian second seeds Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina 5-7, 7-6(4), 7-5 in two hours and 25 minutes in the final late on Saturday night. This was Sania's first women's doubles title at Grand Slams though the World No.1 has three mixed doubles trophies at Major events. The only time before this she reached a Grand Slam final in women's doubles was at the 2011 French Open. This was also the Hyderabadi's maiden final at the All England Club across all senior formats though she had won the girls' doubles title here 12 years ago with Russia's Alisa Kleybanova. Martina, on the other hand, has two women's doubles (1996, 1998) and one singles title (1997) to her credit that she won at the lone grass court Major. Saturday's trophy comes after a long gap of 17 years. This was also Sania and Martina's, ranked No.1 and No.2 respectively, first Major final together. The 34-year-old Martina will return on Sunday evening to also play the mixed doubles final with India's Leander Paes.