Menu item #1 - Mixed Doubles Appetiser

The final Friday of the Aus Open would feature the first of the major finals that being for the Women's Doubles crown. However, the main interest logically lay with the second of the men's singles semi finals later in the evening. Preceding both of those matches was a semi final in the oft forgotten Grand Slam event - Mixed Doubles. Of the great things the Hopman Cup has done for tennis in Western Australia and the nation, one is to revive interest in mixed doubles at the highest level, and many of the top singles players now dabble in it now and then at the four majors. Today, Indian sixth seeded team Sania Mirza and Mahesh Bhupathi were pitted against the eighth seeded team of colourful American Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Romanian Horia Tecau.

Horia served first, and while taken to deuce, managed to hang on for the team to lead 1-0. Effective counter punching saw the Romericans also break the Bhupathi effort and extend to 2-0, only for that advantage to be swallowed up by some smart returning from the Indian pair in the third game.

The doubles hotted up in the fourth game, most notably off the racquet of Tecau, and with Bethanie in support, the team knocked over Mirza's serve for 3-1. Bethanie and Horia had taken possession of the net position and volleyed with purpose and precision to leave little room for Sania and Mahesh to attack. Fortunately Mahesh had his service weapon firing properly with his second attempt and this kept the 6th seeds in the set - just.

At 4-2, Mattek-Sands also cleaned her act up on serve to push the 8th seeds to within a single game of the first set. After each player had delivered two service games the Indians trailed 3-5, with the only player yet to have serve broken, Tecau, serving for the set. After some concern at letting the game go to deuce Tecau served an ace to put any doubt away, and the first set 6-3.

The problems for Mirza and Bhupathi did not abate in set number two, where the serving of Tecau and Mattek-Sands provided even less opportunities for breaks. On the other hand, both Mirza early and Bhupathi in the final game failed to hold serve, and the tournament ended for that pairing. Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Horia Tecau won a spot in Sunday's final with the 6-3 6-3 victory. Their opponents would be the winners of the other semi final between Vinci/Bracciali and Vesnina/Paes.