India’s Sania Mirza, along with her partner Liezel Huber, moved in to the quarter finals of the Aegon International in Eastbourne. The Indo-American pair defeated Darija Jurak and Heather Watson in straight sets 7-6(4) 7-6(3) in an hour and 36 minutes.
The first set went to a tie break with both teams being broken twice. However, the experience of Mirza and Huber helped them to take the first set. The second set followed on similar lines to the first set with Mirza-Huber being broken early. However, they clawed their way back to level the set at 5-5.
The 2nd seeded Indo-American pair then broke their opponents to take a 6-5 lead. But Jurak-Watson immediately broke back to take the set to a tie break. The Indo-American pair then won the tie break 7-3 to seal the match. Mirza-Huber will now face Monica Niculescu and Klara Zakopalova in the quarter finals.
This is the first match that Mirza and Huber are playing together after Mirza had publicly questioned Huber for not owning up to hitting a ball on the double bounce at last year’s Australian Open. At that time, Mirza was partnering Elena Vesnina whereas Huber was playing with Lisa Raymond.