Dubai Tennis Championships: Sania Mirza, Lucie Hradecka lose doubles semis

Dubai [UAE], February 19 : Indian tennis star Sania Mirza and her partner Lucie Hradecka of the Czech Republic lost in the women's doubles semi-finals of the Dubai Tennis Championships on Friday.
Latvia's Jelena Ostapenko and Lyudmyla Kichenok of Ukraine rallied to defeat the duo of Mirza and Hradecka by 6-2, 2-6, 10-7 in one hour and 11 minutes.
The Indo-Czech pair put the pressure early on their opponents by breaking them. Mirza and Hradecka later resisted the challenge and saved 11 break-points to gain the advantage in the match.
Ostapenko and Kichenok got even in the second set to take the match into the super-tiebreaker. Mirza and Hradecka were unable to produce a firm resistance as Ostapenko and Kichenok kept their noses ahead in the decider from the start and booked their places in the final.
Ostapenko and Kichenok will take on second seeds Elise Mertens and Veronika Kudermetova in the Dubai Tennis Championships doubles final on Saturday.
The six-time Grand Slam winner Sania Mirza and Lucie Hradecka had entered the WTA 500 event as wildcards. The duo defeated Chan Hao-ching of Chinese Taipei and world No. 12 Demi Schuurs of the Netherlands in the round of 16, Mirza and Hradecka then defeated Japan's Shuko Aoyama and Aleksandra Krunic of Serbia in straight sets in the quarter-finals.
Sania Mirza will next take part in the Doha Open starting from February 25.
Earlier in January Mirza announced her decision to retire at the end of the 2022 season.