Melbourne:
India’s tennis star Sania Mirza and her Croatian partner Ivan Dodig entered the mixed doubles semifinals at the Australian Open after posting straight-set win over defending champions Leander Paes and Martina Hingis.
Sania and Dodig took exactly one hour and 10 minutes to get the better of Indo-Swiss pair of Paes and Hingis 7-6(1) 6-3 in the quarterfinal encounter.
The top seeded Indo-Croat pair will next face fifth seeds Elena Vesnina and Bruno Soares for a spot in the summit clash.
Sania and Dodig got off to a sluggish start but fought back brilliantly to take the first set in 44 minutes in a one-sided tie-breaker, where the Indo-Croat pair just blew away their opponents.
The second set turned out to be much easier for Sania and Dodig as one break of serve was enough for them to walk away with the set and the match.
Sania is also in contention in the women’s doubles event, where she reached the final partnering Hingis.
The Indo-Swiss combination will take on Czech seventh seeds Andrea Hlavackova and Lucie Hradecka in the final to earn their eighth title on the trot.
In fact, this will be Sania’s first women’s doubles final. Her previous best here was in 2012 when she reached the semis with Russian Elena Vesnina.
