French Open 2016 | It's Sania vs Paes as pairs advance to mixed doubles final
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Sania Mirza and Ivan Dodig set up a final clash with Leander Paes and Martina Hingis at the French Open yesterday after winning a prolonged semi-final. Leander Paes and Martina Hingis as well won their second match of the day to set up an interesting mixed doubles title clash at the Roland Garros.
Raging rains have ensured that this French Open has been a week of grueling double match-days followed by gloomy rain-ruined days. Even as Paris threatens to go under the floods right before the final and days before the Euro football extravaganza begins, proceedings hit the final straight here at the Roland Garros.
Sania and her Croatian partner Dodig had produced a gritty display earlier in the day to win their quarterfinal after being stretched to 10-6 in the tie-breaker. The pair returned to the court again on the day and they were again stretched by their third-seeded opponent Herbert Pierre-Hugues and Kristina Mladenovic.
The pair lost the first set 4-6 to Herbert and Kristina, but clawed back in the second to win it 6-3. Taking the match into the tie-breaker, both pairs were neck-to-neck before the Indo-Croatian duo broke through winning it 12-10.
Leander Paes and Martina Hingis had had an easy outing in the quarterfinal with a straight-set victory over fifth seeds Bruno Soares and Elena Vesnina. But the pair was as well put to the test when they came up against Andrea Hlavackova and Edouard Roger-Vasselin, the sixth seeds in the tournament.
The pairs traded the two sets 6-3 each and went into the tie-breaker. Paes and Hingis had to battle it out to 10-7 to enter the final of the mixed doubles event.
The pairs will face off for the title today at the Roland Garros. Paes has a bit more riding on the title as he chases a mixed doubles career slam after having won the other three Grand slams. The 42-year-old already holds the career slam in the men's doubles and would be keen to add another feather to his over-crowded cap.
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