| Sania and her team in the quarterfinals Mangalam

Melbourne: India’s Sania Mirza and US ‘Rajiv Ram advanced to the quarterfinals of the Australian Open tennis grand slam mixed doubles.

They defeated Australia’s Matvi Middlekop and Holland’s Ellen Perez in straight sets. Score: 7-6 (8/6), 6-4. The winners of the second round match between Sam Stooser – Matthew Ebden and Jamie Forlis – Jason Kubler will face Sania in the quarterfinals. The Sania-Ram pair lost in the first round to Serbia’s Alexandra Krunich and Nicola Kazic.

Last season, Rajiv Ram and Barbora Kryzhikova of the Czech Republic won the mixed doubles. Sania had announced yesterday that she was bidding farewell to her career at the end of the season. Sania, who has won six Grand Slams, was eliminated in the first round of the women’s doubles. Sania is India’s remaining hopeful in the Australian Open season.