Sania Mirza has no qualms in admitting that she and Horia Tecau were "outplayed" in the Australian Open mixed doubles final today but said she had a great tournament as she lost only to best teams in her two events.
Playing against an unseeded but a very formidable combination of Kristina Mladenovic and veteran Daniel Nestor, the Indian and her Romanian partner ended runners-up after losing the final 3-6 2-6 in under an hour.
Krsitina and Mladenovic have been consistently in red-hot form and it was their second Grand Slam together, having won Wimbledon mixed doubles last year.
"We played the final against a team which had played four finals in the last four Grand Slams. They played very well, we could not do anything but we are happy we had a good tournament, made the finals of the first Grand Slam of the season," Sania, who has won two Grand Slam titles, told PTI from Melbourne.
Sania said Kristina's blistering returns made a big impact on the match.
"At three-all, Mladenovic came up with two really big shots.. That kind of set the tone...Until then it was even at 3-3, she hit those big returns after that the momentum swung a bit. They outplayed us really. We tried to do what we could but we should have taken our two or three chances but they had a great match," Sania said, explaining the rout.
Asked if they could have done something different, especially if her serve was better, Sania said, "I was getting the first serve in but she was returning very well. That's it.
