The unseeded tennis Indian pair of Sania Mirza and Rohan Bopanna reached the Australian Open Mixed Doubles final after beating third seed American-British pair Desirae Krawczyk and Neal Skupski 7-6(5) 6-7(5) 10-6 in the semifinal in Melbourne on Wednesday. The final will take place on Saturday, January 28.
The semifinal match lasted one hour and 52 minutes. After splitting a set each, the Indian duo accomplished a strong lead in the super tie-breaker. Mirza found a stunning backhand winner to earn three match points and won the contest with a drive volley that Krawczyk could not return.
The victory is special for Mirza, who is playing the last Grand Slam tournament of her career. She has won three women’s doubles and as many mixed doubles titles in her career, while Bopanna has won one mixed doubles title. Mirza had won the Australian Open mixed doubles trophy in 2009 with Mahesh Bhupathi. With the latest semifinal win, she has earned the chance to win her seventh major title. Earlier this month, she said that she would end her career as a professional tennis player at the WTA 1000 tournament, the Dubai Tennis Championships, which starts on February 19.
