The mixed doubles pair of Sania Mirza and Rohan Bopanna stormed into the finals of the mixed doubles competition at the ongoing Australian Open in Melbourne, after defeating the British-American pairing of Neal Skupski and Desirae Krawczyk in their semifinal match on Wednesday.
The Indian pair eliminated the third seeds from the competition by a margin of 7-6(5), 6-7(5), 10-6 in a semifinal that lasted for one hour and 52 minutes. They rolled into the semi-finals of the ongoing Australian Open 2023 mixed doubles event after the duo was handed a walkover in their quarters clash at Melbourne Park on Tuesday.
Mirza and Bopanna were slated to face Latvia’s Jelena Ostapenko and David Vega Hernandez of Spain in their final-eight clash but advanced after their opponents decided to withdraw.
Last year’s Wimbledon was Sania Mirza’s most recent participation in a Grand Slam semifinal. The Croatian mixed doubles team of Mate Pavic and the Indian tennis player fell short against eventual champions Desirae Krawczyk and Neal Skupski.
She will play in her final Grand Slam event at the 2023 Australian Open because the Indian tennis pro will retire after the WTA tournament in Dubai later this month.
Sania Mirza and Rohan Bopanna, who advanced to the semi-finals of the Rio 2016 Olympics together, is India’s last remaining challenger at the Australian Open in 2023.
Sania Mirza’s women’s doubles campaign came to an end on Sunday, while Rohan Bopanna and his men’s doubles partner Matthew Ebden tumbled out of the men’s doubles competition on Friday.
The 36-year-old veteran has won three mixed doubles titles in her career, including Australian Open (2009), French Open (2012) and US Open (2014). She has also won three women’s doubles titles.
