Wimbledon 2022: India’s hopes stay alive as Sania Mirza and partner advance to second round of mixed doubles

India’s veteran Sania Mirza along with her partner Mate Pavic advanced to the second round of the mixed doubles event on Friday. In a hard-fought win over David Vega Hernandez and Natela Dzalamidze, the Indo-Croatian duo won 6-4 3-6, 7-6(3) in a first-round match.

The 35-year-old Indian ace failed to get past the third round of the mixed doubles at Wimbledon last year and will still have a shot at glory this year as she managed to keep the hopes of the Wimbledon title alive for India.

Mirza is most likely making her final Wimbledon appearance this year. She had earlier announced her retirement at the end of this season. She had won her maiden doubles title alongside Martina Hingis, back in 2015.

Mirza and Czech’s Lucie Hradecka had earlier lost in the opening round of the women’s doubles event.

In video footage uploaded on the official Twitter handle of Championships, Mirza said she is going to miss Wimbledon but it’s time to move on.

“There are things in life which take priority over playing tennis matches and I am at that stage now,” she said. 

On the other hand, star player Rohan Bopanna has given this year’s tournament a miss. Bopanna recently participated in The Queen’s Club Championship in London and reached the semifinals with his partner. 

No tennis player from India has managed to advance in the singles of Wimbledon 2022.  Ramkumar Ramanathan and Yuki Bhambri were eliminated in the first qualification round of the tournament.

(Inputs from PTI