Home WTA Sania-Strycova lose in final of Sydney International Sania Mirza and her doubles partner Czech Republic's Barbora Strycova went down to Timea Babos of Hungary and Russia's Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in straight sets in the final of the Apia International here on Friday. PTI Sydney 13 January, 2017 18:22 IST Sania Mirza and Barbara Strycova played for the first time together this year in this tournament, ahead of the Australian Open. - Reuters PTI Sydney 13 January, 2017 18:22 IST Sania Mirza and her doubles partner Czech Republic's Barbora Strycova went down to Timea Babos of Hungary and Russia's Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in straight sets in the final of the Apia International here on Friday. > Scorecenter The top seeded pair of Sania and Strycova lost 4-6, 4-6 to their unseeded opponents in a match that lasted an hour and 12 minutes. Sania and Strycova's played for the first time together this year in this tournament, ahead of the Australian Open, starting January 16. Sania had paired with America's Bethanie Mattek-Sands to win last week's Brisbane International tournament. The opening set was a closely-fought affair with just one point separating the winners and the losers. The Indo-Czech combination won 25 points as compared to 26 by Babos and Pavlyuchenkova. In the second set also, Sania and Strycova could win only 27 points to their opponents' 30. The Hungarian-Russian pair broke serve twice before Sania and Strycova fought back to equal the score. However, they were broken a third time at a crucial stage of the match and then Babos and Pavlyuchenkova held their nerves to serve out the match. Support Sportstar Dear Reader, Support our journalism — where text and pictures intermingle so seamlessly — and help us scale up your experience as the world changes around us. Your contribution is vital to our brand of uninfluenced, boots-on-the-ground reportage that’s worth your while. Clickbait sensationalism is not for us, but editorial independence is — we owe it to you. Support Quality Journalism Chess24 Legends of Chess on Friday, 7:30 p.m. 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.