India’s tennis star Sania Mirza breezed into the second round of the Australian Open on Thursday. This was her last Grand Slam.
In the women’s doubles, Sania and her Kazakh partner Anna Danilina beat Dalma Galfi of Hungary and Bernarda Pera of the United States 6-2, 7-5, in 1 hour and 15 minutes.
After finishing the first set in less than 25 minutes, they were up 4-1 in the second, but Galfi and Pera won four games in a row to tie the score at five.
But the Indo-Kazakh team was able to break Pera’s serve, and Danilina held on to hers to seal the deal and set up a second-round match against Alison Van Uytvanck and Anhelina Kalinina.
The 36-year-old Indian has won six Major titles, three in doubles and three in mixed doubles. She has said that the Australian Open will be her last and that she will retire after the WTA 1000 Dubai Tennis Championships, which start on February 19.
Ramkumar Ramanathan and the Yuki Bhambri and Saketh Myneni team lost their matches in the first round of men’s doubles.
Ramkumar and his Mexican partner Miguel Angel Reyes-Varela lost 6-3, 5-7, 3-6 to the Tsitsipas brothers, Stefanos and Petros. In the first set, they were ahead, but they blew it.
In a two-hour and 45-minute match, the Australian-German team of Andreas Mies and John Peers beat the wild-card team of Bhambri and Myneni 6-7 7-6 6-3.
Bhambri and Myneni saved two match points in the second set to force a third set. This was their first Grand Slam match as a team.
Then, they went on to win 3-1, but too many mistakes cost them the game and their season.
