Paes wins, Sania loses in Australian Open

Veteran Leander Paes and his mixed doubles partner Martina Hingis won the first round but Sania Mirza's women's doubles campaign ended in the third round at the Australian Open tennis tournament here on Sunday.

Paes and Martina won 6-4, 6-3 against Australians Destanee Aiava and Marc Polmans at the Melbourne Park.

The Indo-Swiss pair needed 51 minutes to complete the proceedings, hitting two aces and 20 winners and winning four of the five break points received.

Their opponents also managed to hit two aces but hit five fewer winners and committed 12 unforced errors, winning 40 of the total 94 points in the match.

But Sania Mirza didn't enjoy such luck as she and Barbora Strycova lost to an unseeded Japanese Eri Hozumi and Miyu Kato 3-6, 6-2, 2-6.

The fourth seeded Indo-Czech pair hit 36 winners, two more than their opponents, but committed 25 unforced errors, three less than Sania's opponents.

The Japanese pair hit 93 winners, edging the fourth seeds who managed 90.

--IANS

sam/mr