Sania & Mattek Sands stun sixth seeds at Wimbledon

London: Sania Mirza and her American partner Bethanie Mattek-Sands stunned sixth seeds Desirae Krawczyk and Alexa Guarachi to make the second round of the women’s doubles event at the Wimbledon here on Thursday.

Mirza and Mattek-Sands were a bit rusty at the start but once they got their rhythm, they dominated the match and won 7-5, 6-3 against the American-Chilean combination in one hour and 27 minutes.

However, Rohan Bopanna and Divij Sharan made an early exit after losing their men’s doubles first round 6-7, (6) 4-6 to Edouard Roger-Vasselin and Henri Kontinen.

The Indians had



paired up to prepare for the Tokyo Games but could not make the cut.

With Ankita Raina taking the court later in the day with American partner Lauren Davis, there will be a bit of history for Indian tennis at the Championships as for the first time, two women players from the country are competing in the main draw of a Grand Slam.

For Ankita, it will be her third successive appearance at a tennis major, having made her debut at the Australian Open this year.

Mirza has been the lone Indian competing at the biggest stage of the game since 2005.