By Kashif-ul-Huda, TwoCircles.net
Miami: Indians Sania Mirza and Leander Paes won their respective first round doubles matches to advance to the next round in Sony Ericsson Open tournament in Miami.
Earlier in the day, Sania partnered with Chia-Jung Chuang of Taiwan defeated Czech duo of Iveta Benesova and Barbora Zahlavova-Strycova 6-4, 7-5.
Fourth seeded, Lukas Dlouhy of Czech Republic and Leander Paes of India dominated their entire match to easily defeat Fernando Gonzales of Chile and Juan Monaco of Argentina 6-2, 6-2.
Playing at night, Dlouhy and Paes dominated the match from the beginning, playing aggressive and at the net; their opponent didn’t stand a chance. They easily won their match 6-2, 6-2 in 48 minutes. Paes appeared to be in the top of his form and speaking to this reporter after the match he said he is confident about his prospects in the tournament.
Playing in hot and humid Florida weather, Mirza and Chuang showed some great tennis skills combined with powerful serves to defeat their opponents to advance to the second round of the “Winter Wimbeldon.”
Chia-Jung Chuang and Sania Mirza defeated Czech players Iveta Benesova and Barbora Zahlavova Strycova in their first round doubles match at Sony Ericsson Open here in Miami. The Taiwanese-Indian pair overpowered their Czech opponents 6-4, 7-5.
Mirza and Chuang proved to be better players but Benesova and Strycova gave them a run for their money. Mirza opened the match with holding on to her serve in the first game. She was unable to win her second serving game giving the Czech pair an edge with match at 2-3. Benesova held on to her serve to make it 4-2 in her favour.
Strycova service was broken by some great plays at net by Chia-Jung Chuang. This game saw some good plays by all players. Mirza came on next with her powerful serves to make the score 5-4. Benesova was unable to win the game on her service, giving away the first set to Chuang-Mirza pair.
Chuang, who displayed excellent tennis with good performance at the net as well as from the baseline, lost the first game of the second set. There were four continuous service breaks resulting in a score of 5-4. Czech players were visibly upset with their game and even though they tried to come back in the match by winning the next game and making it 5-5 but a powerful game by serving Mirza winning it at 40-0 made it clear that it was all over. Benesova lost her serve in the last game to hand the second set and match over to Chuang-Mirza 7-5.
Except for some unforced errors, Sania played well with good service, and placements.
Sania lost her singles match in the first round on Wednesday.
Mahesh Bhupathi plays his first round doubles match on Saturday partnered with Mark Knowles of Bahamas.