By Sally Milano, USTA.com
American Bethanie Mattek-Sands will become the No. 1-ranked doubles player in the world after teaming with partner Sania Mirza Saturday to defeat Elena Vesnina and Ekaterina Makarova, 6-2, 6-3, in the doubles final at the Brisbane International in Brisbane, Australia.
The 31-year-old from Phoenix will move to the No. 1 ranking for the first time in her career on Monday, when the new WTA rankings are released. She will overtake her doubles partner Mirza as the world's top-ranked doubles player, a position Mirza had held for 91 consecutive weeks.
Mattek-Sands will become the first American to hold the top spot in the world doubles rankings since Serena Williams and Venus Williams were No. 1 on June 7, 2010.
"It took me by surprise," Mattek-Sands told wtatennis.com after winning the Brisbane championship. "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.
"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. But I'm really excited about it. It's something that no one can take away from you."
Mattek-Sands, recognized for her colorful apparel and hair and signature knee-high socks, has won 23 WTA doubles titles in her career, including three Grand Slam doubles championships, all with partner Lucie Safarova, at the 2015 Australian Open, 2015 French Open and 2016 US Open. She also won mixed doubles titles at the 2015 French Open (with Mike Bryan) and the 2012 Australian Open (with Horia Tecau) and teamed with Jack Sock at last year's Olympic Games in Rio to win the mixed doubles gold medal for the United States.
The American tallied an 18-match winning streak in doubles last fall (with Safarova) after clinching the US Open and China Open doubles titles and reaching the doubles final at the WTA Finals in Singapore.