Charleston Open: Sania-Hradecka lose in final

Charleston: Veteran Indian tennis player Sania Mirza and her Czech partner Lucie Hradecka’s splendid run at the Charleston Open ended after they lost the title clash to Andreja Klepac and Magda Linette.

The unseeded Mirza and Hradecka went down 2-6 6-4 7-10 in one hour 24 minutes to the fourth seed Polish-Slovenian duo on Sunday.

Mirza and Hradecka had a stunning run at the WTA 500 event, reaching the women’s doubles final after pulling off a major upset by stunning top seeds Zhang Shuai and Caroline Dolehide in the semifinals.

In the quarterfinals, they got the better of third seeds Alexa Guarachi and Jessica Pegula.

Mirza and Hradecka had also reached the semifinal of the Dubai Tennis Championships in February.

The 35-year-old Mirza, who is India’s most accomplished woman tennis player having won six Grand Slam titles, including three mixed doubles trophies, had earlier announced that 2022 would be her last season.