<p>India’s Sania Mirza and her Romanian partner Horia Tecau failed to clinch the Australian Open mixed doubles title as they lost to the French-Canadian combination of Kristina Mladenovic and Daniel Nestor in straight sets in the summit clash here on Sunday.<br /><br /></p>.<p>Sania, who was gunning for her third mixed doubles Grand Slam title and second in Australian Open, and Tecau lost 3-6, 2-6 in a 58-minute contest at the Rod Laver Arena.<br /><br />The French-Canadian pair were clearly the better side in all departments of the game. <br /><br />Sania and Tecau, seeded sixth in the tournament, could not match up their opponents in service, return and rallies though they had lesser number of unforced errors.<br /><br />Mladenovic and Nestor, who won the Wimbledon mixed doubles title last year, fended off all five break points they faced and broke the Sania-Tecau combination four times in the match.<br /><br />The Indian dropped her last three service games to hand a comfortable victory to Mladenovic and Nestor.<br /><br />Sania and Tecau had lost to the same opponents in the quarterfinals of the Wimbledon mixed doubles last year.<br /><br />‘We were outplayed’<br /><br />Sania admitted she and Tecau were “outplayed” but said she had a great tournament as she lost only to the best teams in her two events.<br /><br />“We played the final against a team which had played four finals in the last four Grand Slams. They played very well, we could not do anything but we are happy we had a good tournament, made the finals of the first Grand Slam of the season,” said Sania. <br /><br />Sania said Kristina’s blistering returns made a big impact on the match. <br /><br />“At three-all, Mladenovic came up with two really big shots.. that kind of set the tone...until then it was even at 3-3, she hit those big returns after that the momentum swung a bit. They outplayed us really. We tried to do what we could but we should have taken our two or three chances but they had a great match,” Sania said, explaining the rout. <br /><br />So, considering the tough opponents, is she happy with the end result? “No, I would love to win it but finishing as finalists in the first Grand Slam of the season is not bad either,” was her curt reply.<br /></p>
<p>India’s Sania Mirza and her Romanian partner Horia Tecau failed to clinch the Australian Open mixed doubles title as they lost to the French-Canadian combination of Kristina Mladenovic and Daniel Nestor in straight sets in the summit clash here on Sunday.<br /><br /></p>.<p>Sania, who was gunning for her third mixed doubles Grand Slam title and second in Australian Open, and Tecau lost 3-6, 2-6 in a 58-minute contest at the Rod Laver Arena.<br /><br />The French-Canadian pair were clearly the better side in all departments of the game. <br /><br />Sania and Tecau, seeded sixth in the tournament, could not match up their opponents in service, return and rallies though they had lesser number of unforced errors.<br /><br />Mladenovic and Nestor, who won the Wimbledon mixed doubles title last year, fended off all five break points they faced and broke the Sania-Tecau combination four times in the match.<br /><br />The Indian dropped her last three service games to hand a comfortable victory to Mladenovic and Nestor.<br /><br />Sania and Tecau had lost to the same opponents in the quarterfinals of the Wimbledon mixed doubles last year.<br /><br />‘We were outplayed’<br /><br />Sania admitted she and Tecau were “outplayed” but said she had a great tournament as she lost only to the best teams in her two events.<br /><br />“We played the final against a team which had played four finals in the last four Grand Slams. They played very well, we could not do anything but we are happy we had a good tournament, made the finals of the first Grand Slam of the season,” said Sania. <br /><br />Sania said Kristina’s blistering returns made a big impact on the match. <br /><br />“At three-all, Mladenovic came up with two really big shots.. that kind of set the tone...until then it was even at 3-3, she hit those big returns after that the momentum swung a bit. They outplayed us really. We tried to do what we could but we should have taken our two or three chances but they had a great match,” Sania said, explaining the rout. <br /><br />So, considering the tough opponents, is she happy with the end result? “No, I would love to win it but finishing as finalists in the first Grand Slam of the season is not bad either,” was her curt reply.<br /></p>