Australian Open: Sania, Bhupathi crashed out of mixed doubles
Melbourne: Sania Mirza and Mahesh Bhupathi crashed out of the mixed doubles after losing their respective quarterfinal matches in contrasting fashion.
Third seeds Sania and her American partner Bob Bryan were stunned 5-7 4-6 by the unseeded Czech duo of Lucie Hradecka and Frantisek Cermak.
Sania and Bryan were the first to take the court and the profligate combination frittered away seven of the eight break points it earned and ended up being broken twice by the rival pair, which clinched the opening set in 37 minutes.
The second set unfolded in similar fashion as Hradecka and Cermak proved more efficient in grabbing their chances to close the set and the match in their favour after another 28 minutes.
In the decider, Bhupathi and Petrova ended up paying for five double faults to lose out narrowly.