Melbourne, January 24: Sania Mirza’s campaign ended with a straight-set defeat in the women’s doubles’ third round on a disappointing day for the Indians at the Australian Open here today.
Sania and her Spanish partner Virginia Ruano Pascual were handed a 4-6 3-6 defeat by the seventh-seeded Russian-Italian combination of Alisa Kleybanova and Francesca Schiavone.
There was more disappointment for India in the junior competition with Rishika Sunkara losing 4-6 2-6 to Japan’s Miyu Kato in the girls’ singles opening round.
In boys’ singles, Vaidik Munshaw went down 4-6 5-7 (5) to Belgian Arthur De Greef.
Tomorrow, Indian hopes would rest on Leander Paes who will play his pre-quarterfinal match on the men’s doubles competition. Paes and his Czech partner Lukas Dlouhy, seeded third, will take on unseeded Americans John Isner and Sam Querrey.
–PTI