Mattek-Sands, Mirza Clinch Doubles Title
Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Sania Mirza won the doubles title at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships on Saturday after they defeated Nadia Petrova and Katarina Srebotnik 6-4 2-6 10-7 in one hour and 32 minutes.
The winning pair has played 20 tournaments together and they have now won all four finals they have contested, including Brisbane last month. It was the 12th title for Mattek-Sands and the 16th for Mirza, who finished as doubles runner-up last year with Elena Vesnina.
“When you play a final, it’s not really just about tennis, it’s a lot about nerves and it’s about trying to keep positive,” said Mirza. “When we went down 0-4 [in the second set], I think we went a little passive and defensive. When you play people like Nadia and Kata, you have to be offensive. In the super tiebreak, anything can happen.”
Srebotnik has now finished as runner-up three times in the past four years, and it was the second runner-up finish for Petrova after she reached the 2006 final with Svetlana Kuznetsova.
Emirate: Dubai
Date: Feb 23, 2013
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