Sania-Bopanna duo clicks, India beat Aus in Hopman Cup

PERTH: Sania Mirza and Rohan Bopanna maintained their unbeaten run to tame Australia's Alicia Molik and Peter Luczak in the mixed doubles encounter and pull off their first win in group A of the Hopman Cup here on Tuesday.
   
After being tied 1-1, the Indian duo fought tooth and nail in the decider to win it 2-6, 6-4, 6-7 (11/13) after a tussle lasting 77 minutes.
   
With this victory, the Indian pair, which lost its opening tie to the USA, not only kept itself afloat in the tournament.
   
Earlier, Sania overcame a stiff challenge from Molik and won the women's singles clash 2-6, 6-2, 4-6 to give India a 1-0 lead.
   
However, Bopanna lost the men's singles match to Luczak 7-6, 6-3 and allowed the sixth-seeded hosts to level the contest.
   
Sania, who had almost lost the final set after being 5-1 up, acknowledged that it was never easy against a tough opponent like Molik.
   
"I almost lost that one. 15-40, love-40, it does not matter, she can come up with a big serve at any time," she said.
   
India now have one win and one loss record. The top team in each group advances to Friday's final.

In their next group engagement, the seventh-seeded India will take on Czech Republic, seeded third for the tournament.