The unseeded American-Colombian team of Abigail Spears and Juan Sebastian Cabal upset the second seeded Indo-Croatian pairing of Sania Mirza and Ivan Dodig 6-2, 6-4 on Sunday to win the 2017 Australian Open mixed doubles title in Melbourne.
It was a slow start from Mirza and Dodig, who were broken twice consecutively in the opening stages of the first set, which gave their opponents a solid 3-0 lead in the set. Though the second seeds did well to win their next couple of service games, it wasn’t enough as Spears and Cabal served out the first set in the eighth game to take a one-set lead in the match.
The higher ranked team regrouped well in the second set, breaking their opponents in the second game before consolidating the break to go up 3-0 in the set. But a break of serve in the seventh game, on Mirza’s serve, once again shifted the momentum in favour of Spears and Cabal. They then held their own serve in the eighth game to level the set at 4-4.
A second break, on Dodig’s serve in the ninth game after the Croatian double-faulted at 30-40, gave Cabal a chance to serve for the match in the 10th game, which he did so convincingly to win his first mixed doubles title.
Limited-time offer: Big stories, small price. Keep independent media alive. Become a Scroll member today!
Our journalism is for everyone. But you can get special privileges by buying an annual Scroll Membership. Sign up today!