Sania Mirza’s entry into the mixed doubles quarterfinals was the only silver lining for India as both Leander Paes and Rohan Bopanna lost their respective last eight encounters in the men’s doubles at the French Open on Wednesday.
Second seeded Sania and her Croatian partner Ivan Dodig beat French pair of Alize Cornet and Jonathan Eysseric 6-7 (6), 6-4, 10-8 in a closely-fought second-round match.
Read | French Open: Paes, Bopanna ousted as Indian men’s doubles campaign ends
Second seeds Sania and Dodig will now meet Yung-Jan Chan of Chinese Taipei and veteran Max Mirnyi of Belarus in the quarterfinals. Leander and Martina Hingis are also in the mixed doubles quarterfinals and are pitted against fifth seeds Bruno Soares and Elena Vesnina.
The second-round encounter was a closely fought one as both teams lost their service games twice but the French pair did well to clinch the first set in a tiebreaker.
In the second set, Mirza and Dodig were a break up but the local pair came back strongly. It was the experience of Mirza-Dodig that helped them clinch a second break point in the ninth game and then close the set at 6-4.
{{/usCountry}}In the second set, Mirza and Dodig were a break up but the local pair came back strongly. It was the experience of Mirza-Dodig that helped them clinch a second break point in the ninth game and then close the set at 6-4.
{{/usCountry}}The super tiebreak was also an exciting affair but the second seeds used their experience to prevail, especially attacking the unheralded Frenchman Jonathan.