MELBOURNE: Sania Mirza and Mahesh Bhupathi cleared the first round hurdle in mixed doubles while Leander Paes and Rohan Bopanna advanced in men's doubles with their respective partners as India rounded off an all-win day at the Australian Open on Friday.
Bopanna-Nieminin in second round of men's doubles
The unseeded Sania-Bhupathi pair stunned sixth seeds Kveta Peschke and Pavel Vizner of Czech Republic 6-2, 6-4 to set up a clash with local favourites Anastasia Rodionova and Stephen Huss, who defeated compatriots Jessica Moore and Carsten Ball 7-5, 7-5.
In men's doubles, fourth seeds Paes and Czech Lukas Dlouhy sailed past unseeded Italian-Croat pairing of Fabio Fognini and Ivan Ljubcic 6-3, 6-4 in the second round.
In the third round, the Indo-Czech duo will be up against the winners of the match between the 14th seeded Czech-Slovak pair of Frantisek Cermak and Michal Mertinak and locals Paul Hanley and Jordan Kerr.
Sania, who has crashed out of the singles and women's doubles events, was the star of the show with her net play. Sania and Bhupathi, who had no trouble in pocketing the first set in 27 minutes, were given a tough fight by Peschke and Vizner in the second.