The fourth-seeded Indian pairing of Sania Mirza and Rohan Bopanna edged out the Australian pair of John Peers and Samantha Stosur 7-5, 6-4 in the first round of the Mixed Doubles event at the Rio Olympics to book a quarterfinal berth.

Three consecutive breaks of serve in the first set

Peers started the proceedings and held the first game to love. With Stosur finding a volley in down the middle and Peers hitting a winner which clipped the sidelines, Bopanna found himself serving down 0-30 in the opening game but recovered quickly to hold at 1-1. Stosur and Mirza then held their respective service games to love and the set was level at 2-2. Peers blazed through his next service game and held it comfortably to love. Bopanna, whose serve is his biggest asset was not getting many of his first serves in, but his second serves were doing enough damage to hold at 3-3. With Stosur serving solidly, Mirza tried to intercept a volley and also missed a forehand, enabling the Australian to hold service yet again without much ado, thus taking a 4-3 lead. Mirza's serves were not big but were slow and smartly placed with low angles which forced errors from the returner. However, at 3-4, 30-0, a good return from Stosur and pressure applied by Peers on the Mirza forehand by coming towards the net saw the Aussies leveling to 30-30. In danger of going down a break, Bopanna intercepted two volleys on the next two points and helped Mirza to level the set at 4-4. Peers started with a good serve out wide and went 15-0 up. Bopanna then went down the middle between the Aussies and Mirza's forehand did the enough damage to cause Peers to trail 15-30. Then a good forehand inside out return from Bopanna forced an error from Peers, giving the Indian pair earning two break points. Peers then saved two break points, one with an ace down the T to bring it to deuce. But in the next rally, a flat-footed Peers missed an overhead volley to set up another break point and the Indians took it to break that game, leading 5-4.

Bopanna was serving for the match when errors from the Indians saw them staring at two break points at 15-40. An ace from Bopanna saved one break point but the Aussies broke back to again level the set at 5-5. With Stosur serving at 30-0, a Mirza forehand and powerful inside out forehand from Bopanna leveled the score at 30-30. Two consecutively good returns from the Indians allowed them to break the Aussies and get a 6-5 lead. Mirza serving for the set, started with an error but followed it with a smart low serve to Peers and leveled it at 15-15. Then Mirza’s forehand down the line put Peers on the back foot, allowing Bopanna to finish off the volley with Indians taking a 30-15 lead. Eventually, the Aussies brought the game to deuce but the Indian pairing would close out the first set, 7-5.

Double faults cost the Aussies

John Peers and Samantha Stosur during the 2016 Australian Open (Photo by Darrien Traynor/Getty Images)

Peers once again started the proceedings in the second set and held the first game comfortable to take a 1-0 lead. Bopanna then struggled to hold his own service game with the Aussies working around a deuce but later managed to hold a crucial game to level at 1-1. The women then easily held their games and the second set was level at 2-2. A crosscourt volley from Stosur gave the Aussies a 30-0 lead, but a double fault from Peers good return from Bopanna forced an error from Stosur brought the game at 30-30. Mirza then came up with a fantastic backhand return which forced Stosur to hit into the net, earning a crucial break point at 30-40 to led 3-2. A second double fault from Peers gave the Indians the break. Attempting to consolidate, Bopanna double faulted twice and trailed 0-30, but recovered quickly to take a 4-2 lead. Again, both girls held serve comfortably and the Indians took a 5-3 lead. In his next service game, Peers again double faulted twice but held the game at 4-5. Bopanna came out to serve for the match and wrapped it up nicely with an ace in an hour and thirteen minutes, giving the Indians their first win of this Olympic tennis event. Mirza and Bopanna had earlier crashed out in the first round in doubles with their respective partners, Prarthana Thombare and Leander Paes.

The Indians will now face the formidable British pair of Andy Murray and Heather Watson in the quarterfinals, who were added to the draw in the last minute when the Romanian pairing of Monica Niculescu and Florin Mergea withdrew. The British beat the Spanish duo of David Ferrer and Carlo Suarez Navarro in their first round clash.

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