Little over a week remains for the start of the Australian Open as the Indo-Ukrainian pair of Sania Mirza and Nadiia Kichenok advanced to the semifinals of the Adelaide International 1 WTA. The pair was involved in a tense battle that lasted 55 minutes, a little under an hour as they overcame American Shelby Rogers and Heather Watson of Great Britain with a scoreline of 6-0, 1-6, 10-5. They next face Australian pair of Ashleigh Barty and Storm Sanders for a spot in the final.
Both Mirza and Kichenok started on the front foot, giving the opposition no chance as they overcame the opposition in three sets. With 67 per cent first serves, the pair looked formidable from the start. They won three break points to carry the first set in the pocket. The Info-Ukrainian pair saved two break points as well to win the first set 6-0.
The tables though were turned in the second set as Watson and Rogers went with a relentless first-serve percentage of 93 and winning 79 percent of the points. When presented with three break points opportunities they quickly grabbed hold to make a swift return into the match by winning the second set 6-1.
The tiebreak set though saw some unforced errors from Watson and Rogers which handed the initiative to Mirza and Kichenok to win the final set 10-5 to advance to the semifinals.
Barty and Sanders received a walk-over from their quarter-final tie against Canadian Leylah Fernandez and New Zealander Erin Routliffe. In singles, defending champion Iga Swiatek thrashed Fernandez to book a quarter-final berth against former Australian Open champion Victoria Azarenka. The Belarusian beat Australian wildcard player Priscilla Hon in straight sets 6-3, 7-5.
