Sania Mirza, Rohan Bopanna pocket easy second-round win at Wimbledon

The Indian mixed doubles pair of Rohan Bopanna and Sania Mirza continued their campaign at Wimbledon 2021 with a comfortable 6-3, 6-1 win over Aidan McHugh and Emily Webley-Smith of Great Britain on Saturday.

In a match that lasted for just over 45 minutes on the outside courts of the All England Club, the Indian duo was in cruise mode as they sealed their place in the third round of the season’s third Grand Slam.

Though the British pair put up a fight in the opening set, a break in the eighth game put the Indians on the frontfoot. Bopanna and Mirza built on it to win the set and seized the early advantage. 

While Bopanna displayed his array of powerful strokes from the back court and mixed it up with some timely interceptions at the net, Mirza engaged in long rallies to draw mistakes from her opponents. 

The 36-year-old Emily Webley-Smith, who’s had a start-stop career due to her injury troubles, seemed to be struggling and the Indians ensured that they capitalized.

Webley-Smith was broken in the third game of the second set before the Indians won two more games to race to a 4-1 lead.

From there on, it was all about riding the momentum and the Bopanna-Mirza pair did that to great effect.

Meanwhile, another Indian in action, Divija Sharan bowed out of the competition following his loss in the mixed doubles.

Partnering his wife Samantha Murray in the mixed doubles, the Indo-Brit pair lost to South Africa’s Raven Klaasen and Darija Jurak of Croatia 3-6, 7(7)-6(1), 6-3.

Sania Mirza falls short in women’s doubles

Earlier in the day, Sania Mirza and her American partner Bethanie Mattek-Sands bowed out of the women’s doubles event following a straight-sets loss to ROC’s Elena Vesnina and Veronika Kudermetova in the second round.

But the Indo-American duo was far from their best as Vesnina and Kudermetova raced to a comfortable 6-4, 6-3 win on Saturday.

The match began on a tentative note with both the teams holding their serves in the opening few games. 

Vesnina-Kudermetova drew first blood as they broke Mattek-Sands’ serve in the fifth game to edge ahead in the opening set.

The ROC athletes ensured that they consolidated the break soon and went on to take a 1-0 lead in the match in under 45 minutes. 

The ROC team began the second set in a similar fashion and broke Mattek-Sands in the opening game.

Sania Mirza and Mattek-Sands showed some fight as the match progressed and responded with a break of their own in the fourth game of the second set.

But the joy was short-lived as Mattek-Sands struggled with the serves allowing the ROC team to break back soon after. The Indo-American duo eventually lost the set 6-3 and with it, the match.