Sania Mirza, Anna Danilina defeated in second round, out of Australian Open
Indian men’s double duo Balaji and Jeevan also loses in second round
Melbourne: Sania Mirza’s last women’s doubles match in a Grand Slam ended in defeat as she went down 4-6 6-4 2-6 in the second round of the Australian Open on Sunday.
Meanwhile, India’s men’s double pair of N Sriram Balaji and Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan was halted in the second round by Jeremy Chardy and Fabrice Martin of France. The Indians, who entered the event as an alternate team, lost to the Frenchmen 4-6, 4-6.
In a match that lasted a little over two hours, Mirza and her Kazakh partner Anna Danilina, who are seeded eighth, lost to Belgium's Alison Van Uytvanck and Ukraine's Anhelina Kalinina.
Sania and Danilina, who were a set down and also trailing 0-3 in the second set, fought back to win three games in a row, before getting a crucial break in the seventh game. Their opponents hit a forehand wide, sending the match into the decider.
In the third set, the Indo-Kazakh duo was broken thrice, which denied them a chance to retain the winning momentum.
Sania, however, is still alive in the Australian Open, as she and her mixed doubles partner veteran Rohan Bopanna defeated the Aussie team Jaimee Fourlis and Luke Saville 7-5 6-3 in their opening round on Saturday.
A six-time Grand Slam champion (three each in women's doubles and mixed doubles), the 36-year-old Sania Mirza had announced that the Australian Open would be her last Grand Slam and she would be retiring after the WTA 1000 Dubai Tennis Championships, slated from February 19.
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Dense fog disrupts operations at Delhi airport; 228 flights cancelled, 5 diverted
New Delhi (PTI): Dense fog disrupted flight operations at Delhi Airport on Monday, with various airlines cancelling 228 flights and diverting five to nearby airports due to low visibility, an official said.
However, except for Air India, which had in an X post in the morning announced the cancellation of some 40 flights, no other airlines, including crisis-hit IndiGo, shared the numbers of their cancelled or delayed flights.
"As many as 228 flights -- 131 departures and 97 arrivals-- have been cancelled due to low visibility, so far," the airport official said.
In addition to this, five flights have been diverted so far, he said.
Earlier, the Delhi International Airport Ltd (DIAL), in a statement, said, "Our on-ground officials are working closely with all stakeholders to assist passengers and provide necessary support across Terminals.
"Low visibility (below minima), due to dense fog, has severely impacted operations at Delhi and other airports across northern India, which is unfortunately beyond our control," IndiGo said in a statement.
As operations are adjusted to prevailing weather conditions, some flights may experience delays, while a few others may be proactively cancelled during the day to prioritise safety and minimise extended waiting at the airport, the airline said in a statement.
IndiGo, however, did not say how many of its flights were cancelled or delayed.
The airline said its teams are "closely monitoring" the situation and coordinating with Delhi airport.
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IndiGo also said it issued advisories to its customers and "proactively" informing them, to minimise inconvenience.
“Poor visibility due to dense fog in Delhi this morning has impacted flight operations for all airlines. We are closely monitoring conditions and will resume operations as soon as it is safe to do so,” Air India said in a post on X in the morning.
It also said that some flights have been cancelled In the interest of safety, and to avoid prolonged uncertainty for the guests, while listing out some 40 arrivals and departures that it had cancelled for the day.
Delhi airport is the country's busiest, handling around 1,300 flight movements daily.
