MELBOURNE: Sania Mirza, playing her last major, was kitted in Nike's psychedelic print, a tunic dress which she paired with cycling shorts. Bold, like her play. On a windswept evening, the 36-year-old turned it up a notch, doing a fine balancing act for the team as she got their Australian Open campaign in the women's doubles off to a strong start.
Eighth seeds Sania and Kazakhstan'sAnna Danilina appeared to be cruising comfortably, when Hungary's Dalma Galfi and American Bernarda Pera waded into the contest. The eighth seeds finally came through 6-2, 7-5 in 75 minutes. Sania and Danilina didn't face any break points in the opening set. They were leading 4-1 in the second set, but were broken in successive service games, allowing Dalma and Pera to take a 5-4 lead. In the 11th game, the eighth seeds recovered from 0-40 to break Pera and Dalma. Next up for the Indo-Kazakh pairing is Ukraine's Anhelina Kalinina and Belgium's Alison van Uytvanck.
