Sania Mirza-Martina Hingis pair starts 2016 with Brisbane International title

New Delhi: The Sania Mirza and Martina Hingis, the No.1-ranked team in the world, won their first title of the new year beating German wildcards Angelique Kerber and Andrea Petkovic 7-5, 6-1 at the Brisbane International on Friday.

Continuing their red-hot form from the last year, the top-seeded Indo-Swiss pair took little more than one hour to win the match in straight sets to capture 2016's first doubles title.

CHAMPS! #Hingis/#Mirza def. #Kerber/#Petkovic 7-5 6-1 for a 26th match win in a row! #BrisbaneTennis pic.twitter.com/77dwXxU1I4 — Brisbane Intl (@BrisbaneTennis) January 9, 2016

After a tough first set, which the top seeds won 7-5 in 43 minutes with many breaks of services, they romped to an easy second set win at the Queensland Tennis Centre, Brisbane. They broke the all-German team twice to win the second set 6-1 in 27 minutes.

In the process, the pair also extended their unbeaten run to 26 matches, which is two behind Gigi Fernandez and Natasha Zvereva record tally of 28, which was achieved in 1994.

Mirza and Hingis have won six titles in this run, at the US Open, Guangzhou, Wuhan, Beijing, the WTA Finals and now Brisbane.

Both Mirza and Hingis have won the event once in their career, but with different partners. The Swiss legend was the defending champion, having won it last year with Sabine Lisicki of Germany, while the Indian ace won it in 2013, with American Bethanie Mattek-Sands.