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  Rio 2016: Sania, Bopanna seal semifinal spot with comfortable win

Rio 2016: Sania, Bopanna seal semifinal spot with comfortable win

PTI
Published : Aug 14, 2016, 1:02 am IST
Updated : Aug 14, 2016, 1:02 am IST

Sania Mirza and Rohan Bopanna celebrate their 6-4, 6-4 victory over Great Britain’s Andy Murray and Heather Watson in the mixed doubles quarter-finals in Rio de Janeiro on Friday. (Photo: PTI)

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Sania Mirza and Rohan Bopanna celebrate their 6-4, 6-4 victory over Great Britain’s Andy Murray and Heather Watson in the mixed doubles quarter-finals in Rio de Janeiro on Friday. (Photo: PTI)

Sania Mirza and Rohan Bopanna subdued Britain’s Andy Murray and Heather Watson with remarkable ease to breeze into the mixed doubles semi-finals of the Rio Olympic Games here.

The fourth seeded Indian pair dominated the quarter-final contest, winning 6-4, 6-4 in just 67 minutes.

One more victory will ensure India a silver medal and a defeat in the semi-finals would give Sania and Bopanna a chance to fight for the bronze.

India have only one tennis medal in their entire Olympic history that came through Leander Paes, who won a singles bronze at the 1996 Atlanta Games.

Murray came into the contest after winning his singles quarter-final that lasted more than two hours and was a pale shadow of himself.

The world number two, winner of three Grand Slams and singles defending Olympic champion, seemed conserving his energy for the bigger battle ahead. His heavy legs and stifled movement on the court made the task easier for the Indians.

Watson did not look like a player who won the Wimbledon mixed double title this year, struggling badly with her serve and ground strokes in the opening set.

Sania and Bopanna were a better team than the Britons, who never posed a threat to the Indians. Bopanna was solid with his booming serve while Sania played superbly from the back of the court.

Bopanna began with a double fault and Sania’s consecutive volley errors meant that Indians were first to blink.

However, the Indians immediately got the break back as Watosn dropped serve at love. A flurry of unforced errors by the Briton set the Indian pair nicely with three chances and Bopanna found a backhand winner on the first break point.

Location: Brazil, Rio de Janeiro