Sania Mirza-Martina Hingis cruise through first round at Australian Open 2016; Bopanna progresses
The World No. 1 doubles pair of Sania Mirza and Martina Hingis easily won their first-round Australian Open match against the Brazilian-Colombian combine of Teliana Periera and Mariana Duque Mariño, beating them in straight sets – 6-2, 6-3.
The match, which took just over an hour, saw the top-ranked Indo-Swiss pair outhit their competitors with 30 winners to 19 and more accurate serving - the pair won 60% of their first serves and took their rivals to break point a strong 12 times – of which they successfully broke their serve on 7 occasions.
Today’s win means the pair extend their match-winning streak to 31. They recently equalled the last longest match-winning streak in the women’s doubles – 28 – at the Apia International in Sydney, a title they would go on to win.
Sydney was the pair’s second title of the year already – prior to that win, where they beat Caroline Garcia and Kristina Mladenovic, the top-ranked pair beat Angelique Kerber and Andrea Petkovic to win the title at the Brisbane International.
Although Mirza has never won at the Australian Open, Hingis is a veteran here.
The iconic Swiss Miss has had stupendous success at the Australian Open, having taken seven titles in Melbourne in her career – 3 at the singles and four in the doubles, putting the in-form pair on track for yet another Grand Slam title after having won both Wimbledon and the US Open in 2015.
They will next play Ukrainian twin sisters Nadiya and Lyudmila Kichenok, who won their own first round match against Kimberly Birrell and Priscilla Hon in straight sets.
Bopanna and Mergea progress
The Indo-Romanian combine of Rohan Bopanna and Florin Mergea beat their young Australian competitors Omar Jasika and Nick Kyrgios in straight sets – 7-5, 6-3, to progress to Round 2 of the Australian Open.
Playing the 18- and 20-year old all-Australian pair, Bopanna and Mergea were stretched slightly in the first set, with the home team, who hit twice as many aces, also more accurate with their serves.
Bopanna and Mergea, however, outclassed their opponents with 24 winners in the first set alone, hitting another 23 in the second. In contrast, Kyrgios and Jasika managed a total of 21 throughout the match.
Fourth-seeded Bopanna and Mergea will now play the Czech pair of Lukas Dlouhy and Jiri Vesely in their second round match.