Tennis 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. IANS 07 January, 2017 21:55 IST Sania Mirza (right) and Bethanie Mattek-Sands celebrate a point during the Brisbane International women's doubles final at the Pat Rafter Arena. - Getty Images IANS 07 January, 2017 21:55 IST 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. Subscribe to our daily newsletter Get your daily dose of Sportstar with handpicked stories delivered right to your inbox! SUBSCRIBE Please enter a valid email address.