Melbourne, Jan 22: Veteran Mahesh Bhupathi entered the mixed doubles quarterfinals with partner Nadia Petrova of Russia after coming back from a set down to register a 3-6 6-2 10-5 win over Katarina Srebotnik of Slovakia and Nenad Zimonjic of Serbia at the Australian Open on Tuesday.
The fifth seeded Indo-Russian pair suffered a scare in the first set before they got their act together to win the next two and dump their unseeded opponents in the second round match that lasted 64 minutes.
Bhupathi and Petrova hit 34 winners as compared to only 16 by their rivals. Besides, they also managed to convert three out of six break points they faced, while saved three off five to pocket the match.
In the quarterfinal encounter, Bhupathi may face Leander, if he along with his Russian partner Elena Vesnina, win the second round match against the Australian pair of Jarmila Gajdosova and Matthew Ebden.
Earlier, other Indians in Rohan Bopanna and Sania Mirza had already moved into the last eight stage of the mixed doubles event with their respective partners.
