Australian Open 2023: Sania Mirza-Rohan Bopanna take her ‘last dance’ into final

Melbourne: Rohan Bopanna and Sania Mirza survived some late nervous moments to move into the mixed doubles final of the Australian Open on Wednesday. Mirza, playing her last Grand Slam, and Bopanna came through 7-6, 6-7, 10-6 over third seeds Desirae Krawczyk and Neal Skupski. Mirza is now into her first mixed doubles final at a major since the 2017 Australian Open and it is also Bopanna’s first after the 2018 Australian Open. Mirza, 36, and Bopanna, 42, will face the Brazilian team of Luisa Stefani/Rafael Matos who beat Olivia Gadecki/Marc Polmans 4-6, 6-4, 11-9 in the other semi-final. If the Indian pairing should succeed, Mirza will win her first mixed doubles major since the 2014 US Open and, overall, since the 2016 Australia Open. Meanwhile, Bopanna is targeting his first mixed title since the 2017 French Open which is his only major trophy.

“It was a really tight match obviously. But that’s what happens in the mixed (doubles), right? With the scoring format, it’s so tight all the time. We were lucky to have two straight-set matches in the first couple of rounds. But we’re playing against one of the toughest teams in mixed who won a lot of slams together and separately. Just happy to come through, especially after losing the second set and having match points. We were just mentally tough and came through in the third,” said Mirza about the match. With Margaret Court Arena sparsely full as Novak Djokovic stepped up on the neighbouring Rod Laver Arena, the four-months-in-a-day Melbourne was in full display. The warm conditions at the start became chillier as the match progressed and it reflected well on the ever-changing course of the match as well. Mirza, who will play her last tournament in Dubai, might be heading into the sunset but the competitive spirit is still well and truly alive. Time and again she would pump herself up with a clenched fist; look dejectedly at the box after a missed shot; egg Bopanna on with multiple ‘C’mon, c’mon’ or let out screams in jubilation. The first set went to serve, with both teams holding things comfortably for the most part. The first sign of trouble came at 5-5 when Mirza’s serve came under the pump at 15-40. The Indian team held through with Rohan producing a fantastic backhand smash. In the ensuing tiebreak, Mirza and Bopanna took a slender lead at 3-3 with the mini-break and closed the set out with Sania’s deft drop volley forcing an error. It brought father Imran Mirza and the Indian crowd to its feet and put them a set away from a spot in the final.

The second set was patchy in comparison with neither team being able to make the serve count. Britain’s Skupski started by being broken and not long after, Bopanna was, too, to bring things to an even footing. Two more breaks were exchanged right after to keep the match level. At 5-5, on American Krawczyk’s serve, Bopanna slapped a perfect forehand winner down the line to put them a game away. Serving for the match and a place in the final, Mirza’s strong serve down the tee earned an error and brought up a match point. Unnerved, Skupski hit a ball straight at Rohan who could do very little about it. On the deciding point, Bopanna erred on the backhand volley and two match point chances went begging. In the tiebreak, Krawczyk struck a gorgeous backhand cross-court winner to outfox Mirza stationed at the net and force a deciding super tiebreak. With the first-to-10-points format, Bopanna and Mirza quickly built up a 5-1 lead and then saw it dwindle to 8-6. A backhand winner from Mirza brought up three more match points and her drive volley was too much for Krawczyk to get back. “I think Desirae hit two incredible cross-court backhands. We said, ‘Let’s keep at it, stay positive’. I think the early lead does help. It does make a big difference. I think once we had that moment back again, we made sure we kept at it and put a lot of pressure on their serves. I think it carried us through there,” said Bopanna on not losing flow after the second set. Read all the Latest News , Trending News , Cricket News , Bollywood News , India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook , Twitter and Instagram .