Bethanie Mattek-Sands starts off the new year in the best possible way. She is now the new WTA Doubles No. 1 player in the world.
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Mattek-Sands acheived the feat by winning the Brisbane International WTA doubles title with her partner Sania Mirza. The pair defeated the all-Russian duo of Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina 6-2, 6-3.
Ironically, with the win, current World No. 1 Mirza ceded her top ranking to Mattek-Sands who will rise to the top spot next week. Mirza held the top ranking for 91 weeks.
Mattek-Sands will become the 34th player in WTA history to hold the top doubles ranking. She is the first American to so since since Serena Williams and Venus Williams in 2010. Mattek-Sands holds 23 career WTA doubles titles, with three major titles including last year's US Open with Lucie Safarova.
Mirza congratulated her friend’s achievement during the trophy ceremony.
"It took me by surprise. I mean, I'm the kind of person to lose track of score during matches! And so I think it just kind of hit me when I actually kind of got announced as being No.1," Mattek-Sands said to WTA.com. "It's in the back of your mind, but I didn't want to think about it too much during the tournament, and so I think it all just kind of hit me there at the end.”
(Photo Credit: Brisbane International)