Martina Hingis, Leander Paes win Australian Open mixed-doubles title

Melbourne: Indian tennis star Leander Paes clinched his 15th Grand Slam title as he and Swiss ace Martina Hingis won the Australian Open mixed-doubles title, here today. The seventh seed Indo-Swiss pair turned back the clock to serve past third seeds Daniel Nestor and Kristina Mladenovic 6-4, 6-3 in the 1 hour and 2 minutes battle at the Rod Laver Arena. [caption id=“attachment_2073989” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Hingis and Paes pose with the Australian Open Mixed Doubles trophy. AP[/caption] While the 41-year-old Paes clinched his seventh mixed doubles crown, Hingis, who came out of retirement for the second time a couple of years back, collected her 11th doubles Slam apart from her five singles titles. Paes and Hingis broke the Canadian-French pair of Nestor and Kristina once in the first set and twice in the second to put up an entertaining display. Paes, a veteran doubles specialist, joined forces with the 34-year-old Hingis last year only to come up with a Slam title in quick time. Hingis, who burst into the scene in 1995, thanked her idol and legend Martina Navratilova for suggesting Paes as her mixed-doubles partner. “I am thankful to Martina (Navratilova) for getting me partner Paes. Not even in my wildest dreams would I have believed that 20 years later I’d be standing here again,” said an excited Hingis - winner of three singles Australian Open titles in 1997, 98 and 99. Navratilovia, who also partnered Paes to clinch the Australian Open and Wimbledon mixed-doubles crown in 2003, was in the stands to watch the tennis veterans play. Hingis, who won three singles and six doubles titles at Melbourne Park, returned to the tour to play doubles in 2013. Hingis, 34, won the 2006 Australian Open mixed doubles title with Manesh Bhupathi, who was Paes’ former longtime doubles partner. Agencies