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Mahesh Bhupathi and Nadia Petrova of Russia entered the mixed doubles quarter-finals at the Australian Open, rallying from a set down to register a 3-6, 6-2, 10-5 victory over Katarina Srebotnik of Slovakia and Nenad Zimonjic of Serbia in Melbourne on Tuesday.
The fifth seeded Indo-Russian pair suffered a scare in the first set before getting act together in the next two to dump their unseeded opponents in a second round match that lasted 64 minutes.
Bhupathi-Petrova hit 34 winners compared to only 16 by their opponents. Besides, they also convert three out of six break-points they faced, and saved three off five.
In the quarter-finals, Bhupathi could face Leander Paes, if he and his Russian partner Elena Vesnina win their second round match against the Australian pair of Jarmila Gajdosova and Matthew Ebden.
On Monday, Rohan Bopanna and Sania Mirza moved into the last eight stage of the mixed doubles with their respective partners.