Australian Open: Paes off to winning start, Sania loses

Leander Paes and Martina Hingis won their mixed doubles first round in straight sets even as Sania Mirza and Barbora Strycova lost their women's doubles match.

Sania and Strycova lost to Japanese Eri Hozumi and Miyu Kato 3-6, 6-2, 2-6 in a third round match that lasted one hour and 53 minutes.

India had a mixed outing at the Australian Open as Leander Paes won in mixed doubles but fourth seeds Sania Mirza and Barbora Strycova’s campaign in women's doubles ended with a loss to an unseeded pair on Saturday.

Paes and Switzerland's Martina Hingis won their first match against Australians Destanee Aiava and Marc Polmans 6-4, 6-3 to progress to the round of 16 at the Melbourne Park.

The Indo-Siwss duo took 51 minutes to pull off a straight sets win. They had 20 winners and committed nine unforced errors to their opponents’ 15 winners and 12 unforced errors.

Sania and Strycova lost to Japanese Eri Hozumi and Miyu Kato 3-6, 6-2, 2-6 in a third round match that lasted one hour and 53 minutes.