Sania-Martina extend winning streak in Sydney

Rohan Bopanna too won his opening round alongside Romanian partner Florin Mergea to enter the quarterfinals of the concurrently held ATP event. The fourth seeds had to dig deep to beat Denis Istomin and Henri Kontinen 6-7, 6-3, 10-8.

Doubles world number one Sania and Swiss great Martina mauled the Rodionova pairing, representing Australia, 6-2, 6-3 to reach the quarters.

Sania and Martina began 2016 by winning the Brisbane International last week for their sixth title in a row.

Their 27-match winning run is the longest since Italians Sara Errani and Roberta Vinci won 25 in a row in 2012. Sara and Roberta had won five titles in a row, at Barcelona, Madrid, Rome, the French Open and 's-Hertogenbosch.