Australian Open: Indian duo Sania Mirza and Rohan Bopanna qualify for mixed doubles final

The Indian duo of Sania Mirza and Rohan Bopanna have qualified for the mixed doubles final of the Australian Open final. The Indian pair edged past the third-seeded pair of Great Britain's Neal Skupski and USA's Desirae Krawczyk 7-6, 6-7 (10-6) in the semi-final match.  Playing the last Grand Slam tournament of her career, Sania Mirza earned the chance to win her seventh major title by reaching the Australian Open mixed doubles final.

The unseeded Indian pair knocked out third seeds Desirae Krawczyk and Neal Skupski 7-6(5) 6-7(5) 10-6 in the semifinal that lasted one hour and 52 minutes. After splitting a set each, the Indians raced to a commanding lead in the Super Tie-breaker. Sania found a stunning backhand winner to earn three match points and sealed the contest with a drive volley that Krawczyk could not return.

It was an amazing match, there were a lot of nerves. It's my last slam and it's so special to play with Rohan. He was my first mixed doubles partner when I was 14 and today I'm 36



and he is 42 and we are still playing, we have a solid relationship. We are excited to come back here and give ourselves another chance. We were playing the best-mixed doubles pair on Tour and had to come up with the best. I'm not a crier but I'm almost there right now, I feel the love for the last 18 years I have been coming here. It feels like home for me, I have a family here, I eat at home and I have so many Indians supporting me.

She later won the women's doubles title at Melbourne Park in 2016 with Swiss great Martina Hingis. The 42-year-old Bopanna, who won his only major title at the French Open, winning the mixed doubles with Canadian Gabriela Dabrowski, said seizing the momentum in tie break was crucial. Out of Sania's six Grand Slams titles, three are mixed doubles trophies which she won with Mahesh Bhupathi (2009 Australian Open, 2012 French Open) and Brazilian Bruno Soares (2014 US Open). All three women's doubles titles came with Swiss great Martina Hingis (Wimbledon 2015, US Open 2015, and Australian Open 2016).