AO runners-up open to playing mixed doubles together again
Australia's Astra Sharma would love to once again play mixed doubles with fellow compatriot John-Patrick Smith.
Sharma, 23, and 30-year-old Smith fell just short of having a dream mixed doubles team debut at Melbourne Park.
The Australian duo was beaten by No. 3 seeds Barbora Krejcikova and Rajeev Ram 7-6 (3) 6-1 in the Australian Open mixed doubles final.
Sharma and Smith were given a wildcard by the tournament organizers to play the mixed doubles event.
Sharma is ranked at No. 335 on the WTA doubles lost.
"It's just been an incredible experience and if I can get my ranking high enough I'd definitely love to play with JP again and get that partnership working again," Sharma said post-match, per the AAP and Tennis Australia.
Sharma and Smith won four matches in straight sets before they suffered a straight-set defeat in the final.
Sharma and Smith's stunning campaign featured wins over doubles specialists Bethanie Mattek-Sands in the quarter-final and No. 2 seeds Nicole Melichar and Bruno Soares in the semi-final respectively.
"Its been a phenomenal week. Not only just going deep in the Slam … we had a great environment out there and a great challenge in front of us today," Smith said.
"And we came up short, but the good news is, she’s got so many more years left on the tour and for me it's just about getting more experience on these big stages, which I did this week."
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from Tennis World USA http://bit.ly/2CJ7ssK
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