India's Sania Mirza and Mahesh Bhupathi reached their maiden French Open mixed doubles final but Leander Paes and his Russian partner Elena Vesnina were knocked out of the event here Wednesday.
Mirza and Bhupathi outplayed Galina Voskoboeva and Danielle Bracciali 6-4, 6-2 to enter the mixed doubles final. They will face the Polish-Mexcian combine of Klaudia Jans-Ignacik and Santiago Gonzalez in the title clash at the Roland Garros. The unseeded pair of Klaudia and Santiago caused a shocking upset beating the fifth seeded pair of Paes and Vesnina 7-6 (7-2), 6-3.
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Leander Paes
Meanwhile earlier in the day, the seventh-seeded pair of Mirza and Bhupathi beat the Kazakh-Italian pair of Voskoboeva and Bracciali in a battle that lasted under 70 minutes. Sania-Bhupathi got on the board breaking their opponents' serve in the very first game of the match. Bhupathi struggled with his serve early on as Voskoboeva-Bracciali immediately broke back for 1-1.
The Indians lifted their level of play as the set progressed, with Bhupathi finding his rhythm. Sania played solid throughout the set, serving well and using her dangerous forehand for desired results. Bhupathi closed out the set with an ace. The first set lasting 39 minutes saw Indians converting half of their six break points while Voskoboeva and Bracciali cashed in on the two opportunities that came their way.
Sania-Bhupathi showed their class in the second set as Voskoboeva-Bracciali ran out of steam. Bhupathi's only mixed doubles title at Roland Garros came in 1997 when he partnered Japan's Rika Hiraki. Sania is yet to win here in the mixed doubles event. She reached the women's doubles final in 2011 with Vesnina.
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