The Indo-Swiss tennis women's doubles team of Sania Mirza and Martina Hingis began their campaign at the $2.7 million Cincinnati Masters hard-court tournament with a straight-sets win over the German-Polish team of Julia Goerges and Klaudia Jans-Ignacik 7-6 (3), 6-4 on Wednesday.
The top seeds took just an hour and 22 minutes to beat their unseeded opponents German-Polish pair of Julia Goerges and Klaudia Jans-Ignacik 7-6(3), 6-4 in the second round at the Lindner Family Tennis Center, advancing to the quarter-finals.
In one of the most topsy-turvy matches of the tournament yet, both pairs broke the other no less than four times each in the first set, eventually leading to the tie-break. Mirza and Hingis, who had received a first-round bye, proved better when it mattered to win the tie-break 7-3.
The reigning Wimbledon champions struggled with their service games, committing as many as four double faults to give away points at crucial times of the set.
Goerges and Jans-Ignacik broke the top seeds once more in the second set but the Indo-Swiss pair came back to break their opponents twice, which was enough to seal the set and the match.
Overall, Mirza and Hingis won 73 of the 132 points played in the contest.
{{/usCountry}}Overall, Mirza and Hingis won 73 of the 132 points played in the contest.
{{/usCountry}}Indo-Romanian fifth seeds Rohan Bopanna and Florin Mergea will play their men's doubles second round against the French duo of Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Nicolas Mahut on Thursday.