Wimbledon: Sania Mirza progresses to third round in mixed doubles with Croatia's Mate Pavic

London, July 1: Ace India tennis player Sania Mirza progressed to the next round in mixed doubles at Wimbledon as she along with her Croatian partner Mate Pavic defeated Natela Dzalamidze and David Vega Hernandez 6-4 3-6 7(10)-6(3) in round three at Court 14.

Natela Dzalamidze of Russia and David Vega Hernandez of Spain lost the first set 6-4 but came back strongly in the second set to win it. However, the Indian and Croatian mixed-doubles pair put up a dominant show and clinched the third set 7(10)-6(3). With this win, Mirza and Pavic progress to the third round on the grass court.

The 35-year-old Indian veteran failed to get past the third round of the mixed doubles at Wimbledon last year but will be hoping to make her final appearance in the competition special.

Earlier on Thursday (June 30), Mirza played her last women's doubles match in the competition and her journey in the Grand Slam came to an end. Sania and her Czech partner Lucie Hradecka were eliminated in the opening round with the Polish-Brazilian combination of Magdalena Frech and Beatroz Haddad Maia beating them 4-6, 6-4, 6-2 in a hard-fought three-setter. Sania won her doubles title with legendary Martina Hingis in Wimbledon in 2015.

After losing her doubles tie, Mirza said, "I am going to miss coming and competing at Wimbledon but I think it is time to move on. And you have to sort of understand that and acknowledge that there are things that take priority over winning tennis matches and competing in tennis matches and that's where I am in life right now. It's still probably not sinking in as much, maybe the end of the year, maybe US Open if you ask me. I will be a bit more emotional about it."

"It was good match. We had a set in a break and to get broken on that 1-0 when on grass court that's what happens, right? When you get set in a break you have to carry that momentum forward and unfortunately, we were not able to. It's very difficult, especially when you are serving and it's people who are serving really big, which we were today, especially one of them. I think that 1-0 game cost us a lot because if you are 2-0 there, you will probably be out in the next 20-30 minutes and that's grass-court tennis for you," Mirza added.