French Open 2016: Leander Paes, Sania Mirza win respective semis to stay on track for final clash

Paris: Leander Paes inched closer towards completing a ‘Career Slam’ in mixed doubles with Swiss partner Martina Hingis but may find compatriot Sania Mirza in his way as the two Indian players reached the semi-finals of the French Open at Roland Garros on Thursday. Unseeded Paes and Hingis scored a dominating 6-4, 6-3 win over fifth seeds Elena Vesnina and Bruno Soares in the quarter-finals of the clay court Major.

Sania and her Croatian partner Ivan Dodig, seeded second, overcame a mid-match lapse to beat the seventh seeded Yung-Jan Chan and Max Mirnyi 6-1, 3-6, 10-6 in their quarter-final. Sania last won a mixed doubles Grand Slam trophy at 2014 US Open with her then partner Soares. They next face third seeds and local favourites Kristina Mladenovic and Pierre-Hugues Herbert, who got the better of American eighth seeds Bob Bryan and Coco Vandeweghe 2-6, 6-2, 13-11 in their quarterfinal match. Paes and Hingis, winners of Australian Open, Wimbledon and US Open in 2015, next face sixth seeds Andrea Hlavackova from Czech Republic and Frenchman Edouard Roger-Vasselin. If Sania and Paes win their respective semifinals, they will fight for the title. While Paes has nine mixed doubles crowns, Sania has won three in her career.