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What TV doesn't, print can't; we deliver.
Indian pair reached the quarters with straight sets win in their mixed doubles tie
Sania Mirza and Rohan Bopanna, the two veterans of Indian tennis, kept the tricolour fluttering at Melbourne after the duo reached the quarterfinals in the Australian Open mixed doubles category.
On January 23, the Indian pair defeated the pair of Japan’s Makato Ninomiya and Uruguay’s Ariel Behar 6-4, 7-6 (11-9) in an hour and 17 minutes.
At Court No. 7, Mirza and Bopanna found themselves on top after earning their first service break early in the first set. However, Ninomiya and Behar bounced back to make it 2-2 in the opener. At 3-3, Mirza and Bopanna once again broke their rivals. From there on, the Indian pair sealed the fate of the set.
It was 3-3 in the second set when Mirza and Bopanna again upped the ante over their rivals. But battling for survival, Ninomiya and Behar gave a tough fight as they clawed their way back to make it 4-4.
In the tie-breaker, the Indian pair of Mirza and Bopanna relied on their experience as they held on to their nerve before sealing the deal.
Mirza and Bopanna will now lock horns with the Latvian and Spanish pair of Jelena Ostapenko and David Vega Hernandez in their quarterfinal fixture.
Ostapenko will also take part in the women’s singles quarterfinal, where she will face Kazakhstan’s Elena Rybakina. Rybakina created a flutter when she knocked out World No. 1 Iga Swiatek from the tournament with a straight sets win.
Mirza, a former World No. 1 in doubles, is competing in her final grand slam tournament. She had earlier announced to call the curtains on her inspiring career next month with the Dubai Duty-Free Championships.
