India's legendary player Sania Mirza advanced to the second round of the Australian Open 2023 in the women's doubles on Thursday. Sania and her Kazakh partner Anna Danilina defeated Hungary’s Dalma Galfi and American Bernarda Pera 6-2 7-5 in a game that lasted for one hour and 15 minutes.
Wrapping up the first set in less than 25 minutes, the pair led 4-1 in the second when they were made to work a bit as Galfi and Pera won four games on the trot to make it five-all. The Indo-Kazakh duo managed to break Pera’s serve and then Danilina held on to hers to seal the issue and set up a second-round clash against Alison Van Uytvanck and Anhelina Kalinina.
Sania, a six-time Major champion (three in doubles and three in mixed doubles), has announced that the Australian Open is her last Grand Slam and she would be retiring after WTA 1000 Dubai Tennis Championships slated from February 19.
The 36-year-old had shared a heartfelt letter recently, describing her Tennis career. "As I get ready to play my last Australian Open 18 years after I played my first, and then the Dubai Open in Feb, I have so many emotions flashing through me with pride and gratitude, perhaps, being the foremost. I take pride in everything I have been able to achieve over the last 20 years of my professional career and I am so grateful for the memories that I have been able to create," Sania wrote.
In men's doubles, Ramkumar Ramanathan and the duo of Yuki Bhambri and Saketh Myneni made first-round exits after losing their respective matches. Ramkumar and his Mexican partner Miguel Angel Reyes-Varela squandered their first set lead to go down 6-3 5-7 3-6 to the Tsitsipas brothers, Stefanos and Petros.
Wildcard entrants Bhambri and Myneni went down 6-7 7-6 6-3 to the Australian-German pair of Andreas Mies and John Peers in a two-hour 45-minute battle. Making their Grand Slam debut as a pair, Bhambri and Myneni saved two match points in the second set to force a decider. They then went on to take a 3-1 lead but too many unforced errors spelt the end of their campaign.
