Indian players continued to tough it out on Sunday at the US Open. Sania Mirza made it to the quarter-finals of the women’s doubles, while Leander Paes and Purav Raja succumbed in the men’s doubles second round. Lastly, India’s lone participant in the junior boys’ singles, Siddhant Banthia bowed out in the first round.
Mirza’s consistency saves blushes
The fourth-seeded Indo-Chinese duo of Mirza and Shuai Peng battled past the unseeded Romanian-Spanish pair of Sorana Cirstea and Sara Sorribes Tormo. Lasting two hours and 15 minutes, the match went full distance, before Mirza and Peng won 6-2, 3-6, 7-6(2).
The fourth seeds hit 28 winners and 31 unforced errors, while their opponents out-scored them in both departments with 41 winners and 47 unforced errors.
Mirza and Peng now await the winner between the fifth seeded Hungarian-Czech combo of Timea Babos and Andrea Hlavackova, and the 12th seeded Taiwanese-Romanian team of Su-Wei Hsieh and Monica Niculescu in the last-eight. This will also be Mirza’s 39th appearance in the quarter-finals of women’s doubles in the Grand Slams.
Yet another early exit for Paes
The cheerfulness of the win didn’t extend to men’s doubles as Paes and Raja crashed out of the tournament to the unheralded Russian pair of Karen Khachanov and Andrey Rublev. Khachanov and Rublev won in straight sets 6-4, 7-6(7) in an hour and 27 minutes.
The Russians dominated the Indians on their first serves, winning 74% of their first serve points to the Indians’ 69%. Paes and Raja were, however, marginally better in winning points through their second serves, 63% to their opponents’ 59%. Both teams went on to finish the match with identical 78 points.
In the pre-quarter-finals, Khachanov and Rublev will face the unseeded French team of Julien Benneteau and Edouard Roger-Vasselin.
Tame defeat for Banthia
Lastly, a 48-minute encounter against American teenager Danny Thomas ended Banthia’s singles campaign in Flushing Meadows. Banthia, India’s top-ranked junior player, went down in straight sets 6-1, 6-2.
Banthia won only 46% points off his first serves as compared to his opponent’s 77%. The margin of points won off second serves was even lower for Banthia. He could only convert 35% points off his second serves to Thomas’ 50%. In addition, the 18-year-old dropped his serve six times in the match and was able to win only one of the four break points that he earned on Thomas’ serve.
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