Sania Mirza began her final Australian Open campaign on a winning note as the Indian and her Kazakh partner Anna Danilina defeated the American-Hungarian duo of Bernarda Pera and Dalma Galfi 6-2, 7-5 in the opening round of women’s doubles on Thursday.
Eighth seeds Sania and Danilina broke Pera’s serve in the third game and Galfi’s in fifth as the Indian’s crushing forehand shots from the baseline and Danilina’s deft volleys combined to put pressure on their opponents. Sania and Danilina clinched the opening set 6-2 in just 25 minutes.
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The Indo-Kazakh pair went up by a double break and took a 4-1 lead but squandered the advantage after a double fault from Sania in sixth game and a couple of unforced errors from Danilina in eighth game.
However, the eighth seeds came back from 0-40 down on Pera’s serve to make it 40-all before Sania hit a stunning crosscourt forehand return winner and Danilina hit a dipping backhand return right at Galfi’s feet at the net. The duo then managed to convert its third match point on the Kazakh’s serve in the following game.
Sania and her 27-year-old Kazakh partner, who reached last year’s women’s doubles final with Brazil’s Beatriz Haddad Maia, will next face the Ukrainian-Belgian duo of Anhelina Kalinina and Alison Van Uytvanck in the second round.
The 36-year-old Sania will also be in action in mixed doubles with compatriot Rohan Bopanna.
Sania, a former World No. 1 in doubles, had announced earlier this month that she will retire from the sport after the Dubai Masters event in February this year. Initially, she wanted to hang up her racquet at the end of 2022, but an elbow injury ruled her out of the US Open and forced her to end 2022 as early as August.
Sania has won two of her six Grand Slam titles in Australia. She clinched her first-ever Major in 2009 with compatriot Mahesh Bhupathi in mixed doubles. Seven years later, she lifted the women’s doubles winner’s trophy with Switzerland’s Martina Hingis.
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Wildcards Yuki Bhambri and Saketh Myneni, despite being up by a break up in the final set, lost to 14th seeds John Peers of Australia and Andrea Mies of Germany 6-7 (5), 7-6 (4), 3-6 in their first Grand Slam together as a pair.
Ramkumar Ramanathan and his Mexican partner Miguel Angel Reyes-Varela went down 6-3, 5-7, 3-6 to Tsitsipas brothers - Stefanos and Petros.
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