Brisbane International: Sania wins title, but loses No. 1 ranking

Sania Mirza will cede her doubles top spot to partner Bethanie Mattek-Sands after the duo won the Brisbane International title, beating Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina in straight sets.

Sania Mirza (right) and Bethanie Mattek-Sands celebrate a point during the Brisbane International women's doubles final at the Pat Rafter Arena.

Sania Mirza clinched the Brisbane International title -- her first of the season -- with American partner Bethanie Mattek-Sands in Brisbane on Saturday.

Sania, who held the WTA doubles No. 1 ranking for 91 weeks since April 2015, will, however, cede the top spot to Mattek-Sands after this win.

The top-seeded Indo-American duo won 6-2, 6-3 against the second-seeded Russian team of Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina in the final.

"I feel like I'm handing over Miss World No.1 crown!" >@MirzaSania congratulates her partner >@BMATTEK on becoming World No.1! >pic.twitter.com/CGIaso3vVx

— WTA (@WTA) >January 7, 2017

Sania, who won the title with Martina Hingis last year, said, "We always have good matches (against Vesnina/Makarova). It's great to come back as defending champion."

"Thank you to my partner and best friend. We go a long way, we play once a year, the last time we played, we won in Sydney," Sania said.

"I think we should play a lot more. Thanks for playing with me. I was No. 1 in the world but congratulations to her for becoming No. 1 now. If not me, then her, she has had an amazing year," she added.