Sania Mirza provides sole cheer for India at US Open
Indian tennis ace Sania Mirza and her Czech Republic partner Barbora Strycova stormed into the quarter-finals of the US Open with a straight sets victory in the women's doubles on Tuesday.
Mirza now remains India's only representative at the fourth major of the season after compatriot Rohan Bopanna, who partnered Canada's Gabriela Dabrowski, crashed out in the mixed doubles quarter-finals earlier on Monday. The pair lost to Canada's Robert Farah and Anna-Lena Groenefeld of Germany 6-1, 2-6, 8-10 in the super tie-breaker
Seventh seeds Mirza-Strycova produced yet another dominating performance in registering a comprehensive 6-4, 7-5 victory over the American-Japanese pair of Nicole Gibbs and Nao Hibino in the third round contest that lasted for more than an hour.
Mirza and Strycova were the first to break, which saw them take an early 2-0 lead. Although the American-Japanese pair found the momentum late in the first set, it was not enough as the Indo-Czech duo went on to clinch the first set quite comfortably in 32 minutes.
In the second set, Gibbs and Hibino stepped up their game, with Mirza's forehand and Strycova's net play complemented well by their opponents.
Following the victory, Mirza and Strycova set up a clash against French top seeds Caroline Garcia and Kristina Mladenovic for a place in the semi-finals.
Having clinched three women's doubles Grand Slam titles with Swiss ace Martina Hingis, including last year's US Open, Mirza continued her fine start alongside her new partner Strycova.
Earlier, defending champions Leander Paes and Hingis were beaten in the second round by American seventh seeds Coco Vandeweghe and Rajeev Ram.
