Paes-Hingis advance, Bopanna shown door

Leander Paes and Martina Hingis won their mixed doubles opener while Rohan Bopanna and Barbora Zahlavova Strycova were knocked out of the competition at the Australian Open on Sunday. Seventh seeds Paes and Hingis took 65 minutes to beat Australia’s Masa Jovanovic and Sam Thompson 6-2, 7-6 (2) in the first round match played.  The Indo-Swiss pair earned as many as 10 break points in the match but could only convert three of them. They next face Spain’s Anabel Medina Garrigues and Pablo Andujar on Monday. Paes is already out of the men’s doubles and so is Bopanna.

With Sunday’s defeat in mixed doubles, Bopanna is out of the tournament. Bopanna fought hard with his Czech partner Strycova against third seeds Kristina Mladenovic and Daniel Nestor before going down 2-6, 6-3, 4-10 in the super tie-break. India’s Ojasvinee Singh too suffered a painful first round loss in the girls’ doubles. She and her Thai partner Tamachan Momkoonthod lost to Katharina Hobgarski and Greet Minnen 3-6, 7-6 (2), 9-11. Besides Paes, another Indian in action on Monday will be Sania Mirza, who plays her mixed doubles second round match with Brazilian Bruno Soares.