Viktor Troicki takes title at Sydney

Rallies to beat Bulgaria’s Dimitrov to claim Sydney International crown

Serbia’s Viktor Troicki successfully defended his Sydney International title with a gripping third-set tiebreaker win over Grigor Dimitrov in the final on Saturday.

The third seeded Troicki fought back from losing the opening set to win on his second match point 2-6, 6-1, 7-6 (9/7) in two hours 17 minutes on Ken Rosewall Arena.

It was Troicki’s third career final and comes 12 months after he beat Mikhail Kukushkin as a qualifier in the samefinal.

Troicki joins former World No.1s Lleyton Hewitt and Pete Sampras as back-to-back Sydney International winners.

“This was my eighth final and I never had it this close, this tight,” Troicki said.“I got to say it was tough to play it, but I managed to keep calm in most important points.

“It’s great to win again, second year in a row. I love this tournament. This was my third final, second title, and it’s (a) great feeling,” he added.

Hingis joins Sania on top of rankings

Swiss tennis great Martina Hingis has joined her Indian partner Sania Mirza at the top of the women’s doubles rankings, a day after the duo won its second title of the season in Sydney.

With 11,395 points, the 35-year-old Hingis joined Mirza at the top in the latest WTA rankings released here on Saturday.

Sania and Hingis’ awe-inspiring run continued unabated as they lifted their second trophy of the season yesterday with the WTA Apia International title after clinching their 30th win in a row.

“It’s a really nice feeling having that no. 1 ahead of your name. It’s definitely something I was aiming for, and with Sania I felt like I had the opportunity to get there. When she became no. 1 in Charleston I was just as happy as when I did it myself,” Hingis was quoted as saying by WTA.