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Sania and Bopanna will play the loser of the match between Radek Stepanek / Lucie Hradecka and Jack Sock / Bethanie Mattek-Sands in the bronze medal playoff tomorrow. The USA vs Czech Republic encounter will be starting shortly, so the Indian fans would want to keep an eye out for it!
Did the Indians play badly today? Not really; they were fairly decent even after that near-perfect first set. But the Americans lifted their game when it mattered the most, and the Indians couldn't do the same.
But it's not the end of the road for the Indians. They still have the bronze medal playoff tomorrow!
By the end the 7-time singles Slam champion was firing away on both her serve and her groundstrokes, and there was little that Sania and Bopanna could do.
A match that started so brightly for the Indians went pear-shaped very rapidly, as neither Sania nor Bopanna could handle the sudden increase in intensity from Venus.
And it's over! Venus and Ram have defeated Sania and Bopanna 2-6, 6-2, 10-3 to move into the mixed doubles final.
Things are looking bleak for the Indian pair at the moment. CAn they conjure a miracle comeback here? It's looking very unlikely.
Bopanna misses an inside-out forehand to give the Americans 6 match points!
Venus and Ram have won 7 consecutive points after going down 1-3 in this super-tiebreak.
And now Bopanna flubs a sitter overhead smash, giving the Americans an 8-3 lead.
Sania misses an easy volley, and it's 7-3 to the Americans now! The Indians are 3 points away from losing this match.
It's Vintage Venus, as she thunders down a big serve down the T to give the Americans a 6-3 lead. Bopanna's serve under real pressure now.
Bopanna kept hitting to Venus' backhand, which is never a good ploy. Ram finishes the point with a volley and it's 5-3 to the Americans now.
Venus serving at 4-3, and she misses the first serve...
Remember, the first to win 10 points (with a lead of 2) wins this tiebreak.
Venus hits it straight at Bopanna's body, and he can't get out of the way in time! The Americans have the mini-break now, and will serve at 4-3.
Sania throws up a lob into the corner, but Venus is ready for it and smacks a forehand crosscourt winner. The Americans have the mini-break back, and it's dead even at 3-3 now.
Venus answers that with a fabulous overhead smash, and it's 3-2 now. The Indians still have a mini-break advantage, with Sania to begin serving.
Bopanna with some fine striking from the baseline, and Sania finishes it with a forehand winner to make it 3-1 to the Indians!
Bopanna throws in a double fault, and the Americans have the mini-break back. It's 2-1 to the Indians now, with Ram to serve.
A big serve from Bopanna makes it 2-0 to the Indians!
Bopanna will now look to consolidate this minibreak with some good serving.
And Sania comes up with an excellent return to give the first mini-break to India! 1-0 in this tiebreak now.
Venus will start serving to get this super-tiebreak underway.
The super-tiebreak works very much like a conventional tiebreak, except that it's a race to 10 points (with a difference of 2) instead of 7.
Team USA take the second set 6-2.
And this will go down to a 10 point tiebreak!
So India and USA have split the first two sets, which means they'll play a super-tiebreak to decide this match.
And the USA take the second set 6-2!
Sania nets a forehand to give the Americans another set point. The Indians are looking a little flat at the moment.
Sania really needs to get a good first serve in.
But Bopanna makes up for his error on the previous point with a crisp putaway at the net, and we're at deuce now.
Rajeev Ram is bringing the energy on court today! An attempted lob from Sania really doesn't go the way she'd have liked.
Bopanna misses an easy volley, and the USA have a set point!
The Sania serve under threat now, as the Indians go down 15-30. They are two points away from losing this second set.
Ram misses on the forehand return, and it's 15-0 to India.
Must-hold game for Sania; she's serving to keep the Indians in this second set! Tremendous pressure on the Hyderabadi's shoulders.
Venus holds, and the Americans now have a 5-2 lead! They are just one game away from taking this to a decider.
A big serve by Venus brings up game point for the Americans. The Indians can't afford to give away any cheap points on the return, the way Sania just did on that last point.
Whoever said Venus Williams looked tired today will need to recant their words. There's a reason she's been the World No. 1 - and she's playing like the Venus of old just now.
Sania does really well to keep the ball in play off a blistering Venus forehand, and Ram flubs the overhead to make it 30-15.
A sharply angled volley by Ram makes it 30-0 to the Americans. Desperate times for the Indians as they scamper to salvage something out of this set..
Rajeev Ram falters and sends that spinning quite a bit wide. That's given India that service game but they're trailing 2-4 here.
Venus to serve now; can the Indians put her under pressure by attacking the second serve?
Bopanna holds, and the Indians have reduced the deficit to 2-4. They still need to get the break back ASAP, or else they can kiss goodbye to this set.
Bopanna continues to bring the heat on his serve, and the Indians have two game points now.
An excellent pick-up by Bopanna sets up a comfortable volley for Sania, but she stones it to make it 30-15.
Given Bopanna and Mirza's form tonight, one would not be remiss in believing they could have taken this in straight sets. It's looking difficult now for that though, with India trailing 1-4.
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Join us tomorrow at 10.30 pm IST as Sania and Bopanna take on either Stepanek/Hradecka or Sock/Mattek-Sands in the bronze medal playoff. Until then, it's goodbye from us, and good night!