Abigail Speers of the US and Juan Sebastian Cabal of Colombia talk tactics in their mixed doubles’ final against India’s Sania Mirza and Ivan Dodig at the Australian Open tennis championships in Melbourne, Australia, Sunday, Jan. 29, 2017. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)
MELBOURNE, Australia — Abigail Spears played her part at the Australian Open “30-fun” party by winning the mixed doubles title.
The 35-year-old Spears teamed with Colombia’s Juan Sebastian Cabal to beat second-seeded Sania Mirza and Ivan Dodig 6-2 6-4 in the final Sunday on Rod Laver Arena.
Spears was striving to win her first Grand Slam title in her farewell year. She plans to retire at the end of this season after a career in which she was twice runner-up in mixed doubles finals with Mexican Santiago Gonzalez at the U.S. Open in 2013 and 2014.
The triumph by Spears and the 30-year-old Cabal continued the veteran’s theme of the championships with all players in the men’s and women’s singles finals aged 30 or older. Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal were playing for the men’s championship Sunday night.
The 35-year-old Serena Williams coined the term “30-fun” after beating her 36-year-old old sister, Venus, in the oldest women’s final — in terms of combined ages — in the Open era.
This was only the second Grand Slam event at a team for Spears and Cabal, who lost in the first-round at the French Open last year.
Cabal also celebrated his Grand Slam breakthrough, having been runner-up with Argentine Eduardo Schwank in the 2011 French Open men’s doubles.
He had never advanced beyond the quarterfinals in previous mixed doubles at Melbourne Park.
Spears and Cabal built on a brilliant 4-0 start to grab the opening set and continued to apply pressure with their consistency through the second.
At 4-4 Dodig double-faulted to lose his serve and Cabal stepped up to close out the victory.
It was the fifth Grand Slam event for Mirza and Dodig and their second final as a team.
They were runner-up in the French Open mixed doubles last year and Dodig won the men’s doubles title with Brazil’s Marcelo Melo in Paris in 2015.
Mirza has three mixed doubles majors, including the 2009 Australian Open and 2012 French Open with fellow Indian Mahesh Bhupathi and the 2014 U.S. Open mixed title with Brazil’s Bruno Soares. She also has won three Grand Slam women’s doubles titles, including Wimbledon and the U.S. Open in 2015 and last year’s Australian Open with Martina Hingis.