Leander, Sania reach China Open semifinals in doubles

Sania Mirza and her Zimbabwean partner Cara Black notched up a straight-game win over Chinese Taipei’s Yung-Jan Chan and Jie Zheng in the quarterfinals of the China Open tennis tournament here on Thursday.

Sania Mirza and her Zimbabwean partner Cara Black notched up a straight-game win over Chinese Taipei’s Yung-Jan Chan and Jie Zheng in the quarterfinals of the China Open tennis tournament here on Thursday.

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The eight seeded Indo-Zimbabwe pair prevailed over the Taiwanese combo 6-4 6-1 in a women’s doubles competition at the China National Tennis Center here.

Sania and Cara converted four breakpoints out of the nine chances that came there way and also had a better first serve point percentage than their rivals.

The Indo-Zimbabwe pair will next take on the top seeded Italian combination of Roberta Vinci and Sara Errani in the semifinals.

Meanwhile, Leander Paes also made the semis of his doubles event. Partnering Canadian Daniel Nestor, the top seeds beat Spaniards David Marrero and Fernando Verdasco (7-6 (8), 6-3).

They’ll meet Italians Fabio Fognini and Andreas Seppi in the last-four clash.