WE'RE HEADING INTO A SUPER TIEBREAK! Mirza-Shvedova hold their serve to make it one set apiece. They raced into a 40-15 lead to raise two set points, which they converted in the first go.
DUECE!! Halep-Begu open up a 30-0 lead but two points later it's 30-30. The Romanians make it 40-30 but Mirza-Shvedova fight back to take it to deuce. Early pressure on serve!
1-0 MIRZA-SHVEDOVA! Mirza-Shvedova race into a 40-0 lead in the first game of the second set. The Romanians pull a point back but it's not enough as the first game comes to an end.
FIRST SET TO THE ROMANIANS! Halep and Begu were under pressure at 15-30, but three points in a row means they hold their serve and their nerve to clinch the first set.
Next up, we have the second quarter-final between the Czech pairing of L. Hradecka and K. Siniakova, who will face Spaniards A. Parra Santonja and S. Soler Espinosa.
The first match on Court 4 is done and dusted. The prospect of a blockbuster final between Sania Mirza and Martina Hingis is on as the Swiss, along with her partner Chan Yung-jan came from behind to defeat A. Gronefeld and K. Peschke. The match ended 4-6 6-3 [10-8].
The fourth-seeded pairing of India's Sania Mirza and Kazakh Yaroslava Shvedova will face off against the unseeded Romanian duo of Simona Halep and Irina-Camelia Begu in the quarterfinals of the ongoing Madrid Open. The match is the third one scheduled to be held today on Court 4 and is expected to begin at around 6.45 PM Indian Standard Time.
Mirza will be looking to avenge her defeat from last year when she was paired with Swiss star Martina Hingis. They had lost in the final in straight sets 6-4 6-4 to the pairing of Caroline Garcia and Kristina Mladenovic. The Indo-Kazakh duo had a smooth run in the previous match, where they defeated Christina McHale and Monica Niculescu in the second round. It was straight-set victory, which finished at 6-1 7-5.
This is the first tournament the two will be playing together, after Mirza parted ways with Barbora Strycova last month. When asked what prompted them to team up, Mirza told the Pune Mirror, “We spoke a couple of weeks ago about playing together and hence decided to try and give it a shot since we have played well in the past.”
The pairing of Begu and Halep have recorded two wins in the tournament so far. They defeated the eighth-seeded pairing of Spears-Srebotnik in the opening round, coming from behind to win 5-7 6-3 10-8. In the next round, they won in straight sets 6-2 7-5 against Nao Hibino and Alicja Rosolska.
We will keep you updated as soon as the match begins, with live commentary and updates!