Mahesh Bhupati and Sania Mirza are a winning combination. The duo proved this when they defeated the French, Nathalie Dechy and Israel’s Andy Ram 6-3, 6-1 to win the Australian Open Mixed Doubles title at Melbourne on Sunday. The same pair beat Mahesh and Sania at the Australian Open last year to pick up the mixed doubles title.

It was a memorable moment for Sania as she became the first Indian women to win a senior grand slam title. She has many firsts in her kitty. Sania was the first Indian woman to win a grand slam when she won the Wimbledon junior doubles title along with Alisa Kleybanova of Russia in 2003. With her win at Hyderabad in 2005, she became the first Indian woman to win a WTA tournament.

As for Mahesh Bhupati, this is his 11^th grand slam title. So far, he has won four doubles titles. For three of them, he teamed up with compatriot Leander Paes. With this win, he has bagged seven mixed doubles titles. In fact, Bhupati was running for another title this time. But, his dream was shattered when he and his partner Mark Knowles crashed out of the men’s doubles finals against the Bryan brothers Mike and Bob at the Australian Open on Saturday.

This year has been particularly good for Indian tennis stars. Besides this mixed doubles title at the Australian Open,Yuki Bhambri won the boys junior singles title of Australian Open this year. Leander Paes also reached the semi finals of the mixed doubles pairing with Cara Black of Zimbabwe. Unfortunately, they were beaten by South African Wesley Moodie and Patty Schnyder of Switzerland. Earlier, Somdev Devvarman reached the finals at the Chennai Open last month.

With the improved showing of Indian tennis stars at the grand slams, things are looking up for India. With this kind of performance, we can hope for a rich haul at the grand slam in the years to come.