JOIN USSania-Bops ease into semis
Rohan Bopanna and Sania Mirza moved one win away from a medal at the Olympic Games after delivering a polished performance to defeat Andy Murray and Heather Watson in the mixed doubles tennis event on Friday.
Bopanna and Sania entered the semifinals, notching up a 6-4, 6-4 victory that came as a much-needed balm for the bleeding Indian fan at these Games. On another dry day when shooters misfired and athletes fell by the wayside, the tennis duo simply raised the bar to reignite Indian hopes.
The Indians will now meet Venus Williams and Rajeev Ram, with the Americans defeating Roberta Vinci and Fabio Fognini of Italy 6-3, 7-5 in their quarterfinals.
Murray and Watson were expected to test the Indians but Bopanna and Sania played to a plan. They kept Murray largely out of the picture and attacked Watson. Bopanna also let his serve do the talking at big moments while Sania’s returns on the Murray serve played a key role in neutralising British threat. There were no easy points against the lady for Murray, with the Hyderabadi letting it rip.
“We all know how good Andy is and Heather is the Wimbledon mixed doubles champion, so we had to bring our ‘A’ game to the court today,” said a happy Bopanna, who credited Sania for her play. “Sania returned really well and I also served better than what I did yesterday. Our game plan was to keep Andy out of the game as much as possible and it worked.”
Bopanna and Sania didn’t have the best of starts as Bopanna lost his very first service game to trail 0-2. They, however, immediately hit back, breaching Watson’s serve. The Indians turned on the heat against Watson again in the seventh game, with Sania firing in some cracking returns to force errors from the Britons. Bopanna then took over with some booming serves, two aces and a service winner down the middle lacing the tenth game that the Indians won to take the first set.
Riding on the momentum, the Indians then won an important break on Murray’s serve in the fifth game of the second set to break the British spirit. Holding their serves with ease, they then breezed through the set, with Bopanna again providing the finishing touches with his rocket serves in the tenth game.
Sania was delighted that they were able to raise their game and execute their plans to perfection. “It gives us a lot of boost but we have to come out and give our best again. I feel we can still improve,” she said.
In the other semifinal, American Bethane Mattek-Sands, partnering Jack Sock, will take on Lucie Hradecka and Radek Stepanek of the Czech Republic. Mattek-Sands and Sock defeated Teliana Pereira and Marcelo Melo of Brazil 6-4, 6-4 while Hradekca and Stepanek got past Irina-Camelia Begu and Horea Tecau of Romania 6-4, 7-5.