Mirza/Bhupati vs. Mattek-Sands/Tecau - Preview

Mixed Double semifinal at Melbourne Park between Indians Sania Mirza and Mahesh Bhupati and Romanian-American pair Horia Tecau and Bethanie Mattek-Sands. Maybe the Indians are more experienced, especially Mahesh Bhupati is one of the best players in history at Grand Slam contests with 7 titles. But now he is far from his best form, they could get complacent and maybe underestimating their opponents, younger and less experienced. Tecau and Mattek are making good team, the relationship between them is very good, excellent atmosphere and competitive mood. One-on-one I found Bethanie Mattek-Sands better than Mirza, she has better serve and good positioning on the field, also Tecau is serving very very well, strong and varied and he can realise more winners for the team than Bhupati can do at the moment with his kick shots. The Indians lost in the first round at US Open 2011 after rejoining each other since good 2009 season when they won here at Aussie Open. Mattek /Tecau already won two thrillers against Hradecka/Mertinak 10:6 in the third set and Gajdosova/Soares 13:11 in the decisive set. Those results boost their morale and proved us that they have all they need to record a great performance here, showing great chemistry and big composure in key moments. Everything is possible, the odds are value and I must take it with no hesitation.