Melbourne: Indian ace Sania Mirza and Rohan Bopanna Tuesday soared into the final of the Australian Open 2023 mixed doubles event on Wednesday, beating third seed American-British pair Desirae Krawczyk and Neal Skupski in the semifinals.
Sania and Bopanna registered a 7-6(5), 6-7(5), 10-6 upset win over two-time Wimbledon champion pair Desirae-Skupski.
The Indian duo will face the winner of the match between Australia's Olivia Gadecki and Marc Polmans and the Brazilian pair of Luisa Stefani and Rafael Matos.
Playing at the Margaret Court Arena at Melbourne Park, the two teams indulged in a neck-to-neck fight in the first set and neither pair dropped a single serve. Mirza and Bopanna finally emerged with the lead after edging out their opponents 7-5 in the tie-breaker.
In the second set, the Indian pair took an early advantage as they combined well to break Skupski's serve in the very first game. The British-American pair levelled up after breaking Bopanna and Sania's serves in the sixth and eighth games, respectively.
The Indians used their experience well to ensure three more break points of their own.
With Sania serving for the match in the 12th game, the Indian pair had a match point opportunity but squandered it as Krawczyk and Skupski fought back to force a tiebreak for the second set.
Then, Krawczyk and Skupski came out on top to take the match into a super tie-breaker. The Indian pair recovered brilliantly from the disappointing end of the second set to win the super tie-breaker 10-6.
This will be the first time in five years that a Grand Slam final will have Indian representation. Bopanna had made the Australian Open mixed doubles final with Hungary's Timea Babos in 2018 but ended up on the losing side.
Sania is playing her last major as the six-time Grand Slam champion and earlier this month announced that she will retire from professional tennis at Dubai Tennis Championships, a WTA 1000 event, which begins on February 19.
She has six major titles in doubles discipline -- three in women's doubles and as many as in mixed doubles -- with her maiden triumph coming in 2009 when she partnered Mahesh Bhupathi to clinch the Australian Open mixed doubles title.
Sania meanwhile admitted that her mixed doubles final run in Australian Open is "so emotional" adding that there's a lot of nerves playing her last major.
"We were playing one of the best mixed doubles teams on tour and we knew we had to come up with the best I'm glad we were able to do that. It was an amazing match, obviously there's a lot of nerves playing my last Slam and it's so special to play with Rohan," Sania said.
"Rohan was my first-ever mixed doubles partner when I was 14 years old ... we're so excited to come back here and give ourselves another chance, added the Indian ace, who plans to retire later this year", she added.
The legendary pair of Sania Mirza and Rohan Bopanna are just one win away from the Australian Open mixed doubles title pic.twitter.com/iRwTATr3lQ— Indian Tennis Daily (ITD) (@IndTennisDaily) January 25, 2023
The legendary pair of Sania Mirza and Rohan Bopanna are just one win away from the Australian Open mixed doubles title pic.twitter.com/iRwTATr3lQ
Interestingly, Sania claimed her first major in 2009 at Melbourne Park, when she teamed up with Mahesh Bhupathi. And she will end her illustrious Grand Slam career here on Saturday.
"I'm so emotional. I'm not a crier in front of people, but I'm almost there right now. I feel the love here. For the 18 years that I've been coming here, it feels like home for me because honestly, I've got family here. I eat at home, I get so much home food and I have all these Indians coming out and supporting me. It's been quite a journey, and I'm really going to miss coming back here," she said.
Melbourne Park has been a happy hunting ground for the Indian star. After her maiden triumph in 2009, seven years later in 2016, she paired up with Swiss star Martina Hingis and claimed the women's doubles title as the top seeds.
Outside Australia, Sania earned four other Grand Slam titles: 2015 Wimbledon and 2015 US Open women's doubles with Hingis, 2012 Roland Garros mixed doubles with Bhupathi and 2014 US Open mixed doubles with Bruno Soares.
With Sania gunning for her third Australian Open and seventh major, the Indian pair will cross swords with Brazilian duo Luisa Stefani & Rafael Matos in the final on Saturday.
The 42-year-old Bopanna said, "It would be an absolute dream" to clinch the winner's trophy with the six-time Grand Slam champion.
"You can't get anything better than that to finish her last slam with a title. I think it'd be really special. We need it in India. We need to keep inspiring everyone back there," he said.
Saturday's final will be the perfect Grand Slam farewell for Sania as earlier this month she announced her retirement from professional tennis after the Dubai Tennis Championships, a WTA 1000 event, which begins on February 19.
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