London : The International Tennis Federation (ITF) on Tuesday named the Indo-Swiss pair of Sania Mirza and Martina Hingis as the 2015 ITF women’s doubles World Champions. American Serena Williams and Serbian Novak Djokovic were named the women’s and men’s singles World Champions, respectively. Serena earned the title for the sixth time while this is the fifth occasion that Djokovic received the honour. Dutch Jean-Julien Rojer and Romania’s Horia Tecau were announced as the men’s doubles champions. Martina has become an ITF World Champion 15 years after last being named as the title holder in singles in 2000. Martina and Sania only joined forces in March but proved a force to be reckoned with this year, winning two Grand Slam titles at Wimbledon and US Open, and seven further tournaments.
They won their last 22 matches from the start of the US Open through wins in Asia at Guangzhou, Wuhan, Beijing and the WTA Finals in Singapore, ending the year with a 55-7 record. “It is a great honour to be named ITF women’s doubles World Champions. Sania and I have enjoyed every minute of the season and we hope to continue in 2016 in the same fashion. We are set to join a long list of champions and it is a privilege to be recognised alongside them,” Martina said. On her part, Sania added: “I am very honoured to receive this award from the ITF after what has been a great year for me and Martina. It is incredible that we have achieved so much in such a short time playing together. I am grateful to everyone that has helped me throughout my career and I hope that my success can inspire other girls in India.”
Hungarian Dalma Galfi and American Taylor Fritz were named the ITF Junior World Champions while the wheelchair champions are Jiske Griffioen of Netherlands and Japan’s Shingo Kunieda. The champions will receive their awards at the 2016 ITF World Champions Dinner on May 31 in Paris during the French Open. The ITF’s selection of its World Champions are based on an objective system that considers all results during the year, but gives special weight to Grand Slams, and two ITF international team competitions — Davis Cup and Fed Cup. “I would like to thank all the 2015 ITF World Champions for their contribution to another memorable year for our sport,” ITF president David Haggerty said.
