Sania Mirza and her American partner Bethanie Mattek-Sands knocked out sixth seeds Desirae Krawczyk and Alexa Guarachi to move into the second round of the Wimbledon on Thursday.
Sania and Mattek-Sands were a bit rusty at the start but once they got their rhythm, they dominated the match and won 7-5, 6-3 against the American-Chilean combination in one hour and 27 minutes.
The third game had seven deuce points before Mattek-Sands held serve. Sania and Mattek-Sands too had two opportunities to break their rivals, but the American fluffed a volley before Desirae produced a quality serve.
Guarachi hit a forehand wide at 15-30 to hand two set points in the 12th game. The Indo-American combination did not squander it this time, Sania sealing the set with an overhead smash. In the second, Sania and Mattek-Sands opened up a 3-1 lead and went on to win 6-3.
In men’s doubles, Rohan Bopanna and Divij Sharan lost 6-7(6), 4-6 to the 11th-seeded pair of Henri Kontinen and Edouard Roger-Vasselin.
After a tight first set which went to a tie-breaker, the Finn-French pair sailed through in the second in a contest that lasted an hour and 20 minutes.
