Mirza and Hingis extend unbreaten run to reach semis at Sydney

It was an easy win for the World No.1 pair against their unseeded opponents, and they now await the winner of the second quarter-final match between fourth seeded Timea Babos/ Katarina Srebotnik and Raluca Olaru/ Yaroslava Shvedova.

'Santina' as they are called, are now gunning for their 11th title, since pairing up at the Indian Wells last year. Sania Mirza is also the defending champion of this tournament, having won the doubles title last year with her former partner Bethanie Mattek-Sands.

The pair started the new year on a winning note, as they went on to lift the Brisbane International at the Queensland Tennis Centre earlier this month – which incidentally was their sixth title in a row.

Meanwhile, Sania Mirza achieved a special feat of becoming the first Indian tennis player, male or female, to hold the number one ranking for 40 consecutive weeks, beating the record set by Leander Paes between 1999 and 2000. She will be looking to win her first Australian Open title, when the season's first grand slam starts next week.