India beat Croatia 2-1 in Hopman Cup

Sania Mirza and Rohan Bopanna win the decisive mixed doubles match against the Croatian pair.

India enhanced their chances of making it to the title round in their maiden outing at the Hopman Cup mixed team tennis competition, getting the better of Croatia 2-1 in a Group 'B' tie at Perth on Wednesday.

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Sania Mirza and Rohan Bopanna won the decisive mixed doubles match against the Croatian pair of Mario Ancic and his younger sister Sanja 3-6 6-3 7-6 (10/8) in a keenly contested encounter which lasted 79 minutes at the Burswood Dome.

Sania, ranked 65th in the world, attributed the win to her ability to handle crowd pressure.

"I've played in front of big crowds before, and I think that helped me," the Indian star said.

India next meet Spain, who are represented by world number seven Tommy Robredo and Anabel Medina Garrigues.

Earlier in the day, Sania had registered a comfortable 6-2 6-3 victory against Sanja Ancic to give India the lead.

However, Mario, ranked ninth in the world, brought things on level terms by beating Rohan Bopanna in straight sets 7-6(2) 7-6(3).

India had beaten third seeds Czech Republic 2-1 in their opening tie on Sunday.