Melbourne: It was a mixed day for the Indians at the Australian Open as Mahesh Bhupathi and his Canadian partner Daniel Nestor lost in the second round, but Sania Mirza and America’s Bob Bryan cruised into the quarterfinals in Melbourne on Monday.
The fifth seeded Bhupathi and Nestor were beaten by the unseeded Italian combo of Simone Bolelli and Fabio Fognini 3-6 6-4 3-6 by in the second round.
Earlier, defencing champions Leander Paes and Radek Stepanek were shocked in the first round while Rohan Bopanna and Rajeev Ram could not go beyond the second round.
However, in the mixed doubles, all four Indian players are still in competition with Sania and her new American partner Bob advancing to quarter-finals with a come-from-behind win. The third seeded Indo-American team defeated the US team of Abigail Spears and 4-6 6-1 10-4 in the second round.
They will now fight it out with Czech team of Lucie Hradecka and Frantisek Cermak for a place in the semi-finals.
