Sania-Anabel go down fighting in Australian Open

Melbourne, Jan 22 (UNI) Tenth seeds Sania Mirza and her Spanish partner Anabel Medina Garrigues fought hard but ran out of steam in the closing stages as they went down 6-7 (5), 7-6 (5), 2-6 to sixth seeded Slovakian-Japanese pair of Daniela Hantuchova and Ai Sugiyama in the third round of the women's doubles event at the Australian Open here today.

In what turned out to be an exciting battle, Sania and Anabel put up a spirited fight but could not mantain the tempo in the last set as their higher seeded rivals outlasted them to move into the quarterfinals.

The 10th seeds were on the verge of being blanked out in the first set as they trailed 0-5 but staged a dramatic comeback and won three consecutive games before taking the opener into tie-breaker.

However, Hantuchova and Sugiyama warded off the challenge to go one up in the match.

The second set, which was the longest of the match lasting 73 minutes, followed a similar script but this time it was Sania and Anabel who came out on top. The Indo-Spanish pair did not commit a single unforced error or double fault but were broken twice before the set once again stretched to a tie-breaker in which Sania-Anabel got the better off the sixth seeds to equalise.

However, it turned out to be a false dawn for the 10th seeds, who were exhausted after two hard-fought sets. Hantuchova and Sugiyama broke the Indo-Spanish duo thrice before they sealed the match in their favour.

In contrast, Mahesh Bhupathi and his Czech partner Radek Stepnak continued their winning streak in the men's doubles event upsetting the seventh seeded Israeli pair of Jonathan Elrich and Andy Ram 7-6 (4), 4-6, 6-3 to enter the quarterfinals.

The Indo-Czech pair will now be up against the second seeded Swedish-Belarussian pair of Jonas Bjorkman and Max Mirnyi in the last eight.

In a battle lasting close to two hours, Bhupathi and Stepnak once again showed immense determination as they got the better of their seeded rivals.

Despite not being as disciplined as Elrich and Ram, who did not commit a single double fault or unforced error during the match, the Indo-Czech pair came out on top as they broke their rivals at crucial junctures and had a better first serve percentage.

The first set proved to be a see-saw battle and both the pairs broke each other once before stretching the opener to a tie-breaker.

Bhupathi and Stepnak seized the opportunity and won the tie-breaker to go one up.

Rattled by the setback, the seventh seeds made a comeback in the second set. Elrich and Ram served well and broke Bhupathi and Stepnak once as they equalised to take the match into what seemed to be an interesting third set.

However, it rurned out to be a one-sided affair as Bhupathi and Stepnak raised their game and converted two of the three break points that came their way to seal the match in their favour.

Meanwhile, India's campaign at the junior events got off to a disappointing start as Rupesh Roy went down 6-2, 3-6, 3-6 to French Kevin Botti in the boys' singles event.

The Indian lost his way after winning the first set and was outplayed by his rival, who came back strongly to end Rupesh's campaign in the event.

UNI