Australian Open 2023: Sania Mirza-Rohan Bopanna pair reaches mixed doubles pre-quarterfinals

Sania Mirza and Rohan Bopanna won the opening round fixture against local wildcards Jaimee Fourlis and Luke Saville 7-5, 6-3 in an hour and 14 minutes.

FILE PHOTO: Sania Mirza (left) and Rohan Bopanna (right).

Sania Mirza and Rohan Bopanna defeated local wildcards Jaimee Fourlis and Luke Saville in straight sets to reach the mixed doubles pre-quarterfinals of the 2023 Australian Open in Melbourne on Sunday.

Sania, 36, and Bopanna, 42, won the opening round fixture 7-5, 6-3 in an hour and 14 minutes and their next opponents will be either sixth seeds - Ellen Perez of Australia and Harri Heliovaara of Finland - or the unseeded American-Dutch duo of Nicole Melichar-Martinez and Matwe Middelkoop.

Sania, who is set to retire from the sport after next month’s Dubai Masters, won the mixed doubles crown in Melbourne with compatriot Mahesh Bhupathi in 2009.

With Bopanna, she has previously played mixed doubles once at French Open (2011) and twice at Wimbledon (2011, 2021) with the pair’s best result together being a quarterfinal-finish at the All England Club in 2011. They did, however, finish fourth at the 2016 Rio Olympics.

In the other matches of the day involving Indians, Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan and N Sriram Balaji got into the men’s doubles draw as alternates and upset fifth seeds and 2022 French Open finalists, Ivan Dodig of Croatia and Austin Krajicek of USA, 7-6 (6), 2-6, 6-4 in the first round.

in the junior event, Manas Dhamne won 6-3, 6-3 against local widlcard Jeremy Zhang in the boys’ singles opening round. The 15-year-old Manas made his ATP Tour debut at Tata Open Maharashtra this month as a wildcard. However, Aryan Shah went down 1-6, 2-6 to 10th-seeded Brazilian Joao Fonseca.