US Open: Sania Mirza enters mixed doubles semis, Leander Paes exits

New York: Indian tennis ace Sania Mirza stormed into the mixed doubles semifinals besides reaching the doubles quarterfinals, but compatriot Leander Paes exited the US Open with unexpected defeats in both his events.

Top seeds Sania alongside Brazilian partner Bruno Soares beat the Indo-Slovenian duo of Rohana Bopanna and Katarina Srebotnik 7-5 2-6 10-5 in the mixed doubles quarterfinals at Flushing Meadows yesterday.

Sania-Soares will take on the unseeded Yung-Jan Chan of Chinese Taipei and Britain’s Ross Hutchins in the semifinals.

The Hyderabadi made the women’s quarterfinals with Cara Black, defeating Czech-Serbian combine of Klara Koukalova and Jelena Jankovic 6-3 6-2. The third seeds next play China’s Yi-Fan Xu and Kazakhstan’s Zarina Diyas. Sania has not won a title yet at the US Open.

However, Indian tennis veteran Paes had a forgettable outing.

He and his experienced men’s doubles partner Radek Stepanek lost to Spain’s Marcel Granollers and Marc Lopez 2-6 6-4 1-6 in the third round.

The 41-year-old teamed up with Zimbabwe veteran Cara Black in the mixed doubles.

The third seeds failed to get going against the American-Mexican partnership of Abigail Spears and Santiago Gonzalez, losing the quarterfinal 4-6 6-4 8-10 in the Super Tie-Break.

In the junior boys round one, Sumit Nagpal got past Viktor Durasovic of Norway 6-3 6-4.