Australian Open: SanTina through to round 3; India-Pakistan clash set up in mixed doubles

Sania Mirza and Martina Hingis extended their unbeaten streak to 32 matches, with an easy 6-2, 6-3 win over the Kichenok sisters. The Indo-Swiss pair had to hardly break a sweat as the opponents helped their cause with four double faults and 22 unforced errors.

The World No.1 pair will now face former World No.2 in singles Svetlana Kuznetsova and Italian star Roberta Vinci. Mirza and Kuznetsova have faced each other a lot in the past, both in singles – when Mirza scripted a memorable win – and in doubles. Back in the 2012 Australian Open, Mirza and her partner, Elena Vesnina lost to Kuznetsova and Vera Zvonareva in the women's doubles semi-final.

Meanwhile, in mixed doubles, Mirza and Ivan Dodig defeated the Australian pair of Nick Kyrgios and Ajla Tomljanovic 7-5, 6-1. Mirza and Dodig produced a staggering 34 winners in this game which last 59 minutes.

The No.1 seeded pair will now face Shvedova and Qureshi in the second round. Shvedova is a former partner of Mirza in women's doubles and they also faced each other in the 2015 US Open final, which Mirza and Hingis won. Qureshi, on the other hand, has a long-standing relation with Indian tennis, having partnered both Rohan Bopanna and Leander Paes in doubles.