Australian Open mixed-doubles: Sania Mirza edges past Rohan Bopanna to seal semi-final berth

Sensational Indian tennis star Sania Mirza produced yet another spirited performance along with her Croatian partner Ivan Dodig as the duo bounced back from a set down to enter the semi-finals of the mixed doubles event at the season-opening Australian Open on 25 January in Melbourne.

The Indo-Croatian pair knocked out the Indo-Canadian team of Rohan Bopanna and Gabriela Dabrowski 6-4, 3-6, 12-10 in the quarter-final clash that lasted an hour and seven minutes on Show Court 3 at Melbourne Park.

With the two pairs splitting the first two sets, the match went into a 10-point tie-breaker, in which the second-seed pair of Mirza and Dodig saved four match points before clinching one of their own to breeze into the last-four.

The unseeded Indo-Canadian pair clinched the initial three match point chances at 9-6 but the Mirza-Dodig duo managed to level it at 9-all. Bopanna-Dabrowski registered another lead at 10-9 but the next three points went to the court of Mirza and Dodig as the Indo-Croatian pair emerged victorious.

Mirza and Dodig will now take on either Indo-Swiss pair of Leander Paes and Martina Hingis or Australian duo of Samantha Stosur and Sam Groth to seal a place in the final.

In other matches, World number 2 Serena Williams continued to display excellence on court as she booked her place in the semi-finals of the Australian Open following straight-sets victory over British star Johanna Konta.

The American tennis star served up 10 aces and thumped 25 winners to register a 6-2, 6-3 triumph over Konta in a one-sided quarter-final contest that lasted one hour and 15 minutes on Rod Laver Arena.

Serena will now lock horns with 34-year-old Croatian Mirjana Lucic-Baroni for a place in the summit showdown.

--With ANI inputs