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Martina Hingis and Leander Paes celebrate capturing the Australian Open mixed doubles title....

Leander Paes and Martina Hingis clinched the Australian Open mixed doubles title on Sunday.

Paes, contesting his 25th season on the ATP World Tour, and Hingis defeated defending champions Daniel Nestor and Kristina Mladenovic 6-4, 6-3 in the final.

Paes has now won 15 Grand Slam championship titles – eight men’s doubles and seven mixed doubles. It was his third mixed triumph at Melbourne Park, having also won in 2003 (w/Martina Navratilova) and 2010 (w/Cara Black).

“It’s a great honour to keep coming back to Australia,” said 41-year-old Paes. “There are a few people who got us together. All you guys back home, who put us together to win our first Grand Slam, thank you.

“It's a treat to play with Martina. I finally managed to learn some things from her returns and returned half decently today. It's intriguing."

Paes and Hingis took a 3-0 lead, but Nestor and Mladenovic’s I-formation caused problems and they soon levelled the scoreline. At 4-5, a backhand drive volley error by Mladenovic gave Paes and Hingis a set point opportunity on Nestor’s serve. He struck a double fault to end the 29-minute first set.

Nestor and Mladenovic broke Hingis for a 2-1 lead in the second set, but Mladenovic was broken in the next game. Net errors by Nestor paved the way to hand Paes and Hingis a 4-2 lead, but Nestor regained his rhythm on return of serve to break Hingis again. Mladenovic was broken in the eighth game and Hingis went on to seal victory with a smash winner.

“I think we even grew with every match – the confidence, the teamwork, the suggestions we had, one or the other, we really trust each other,” said Hingis. “I think that was the key in every match.”

Paes and Hingis converted five of their seven break point opportunities, hitting 19 winners and committing just 11 unforced errors for victory in 62 minutes on Rod Laver Arena.

Former World No. 1 Hingis also won the Australian Open mixed doubles title in 2006 (w/Mahesh Bhupathi).

Source:- ATP Tennis