Wimbledon: Sania Mirza and Rohan Bopanna beat compatriots Ankita Raina and Ramkumar Ramanathan in 1st round

India's tennis veteran duo of Sania Mirza and Rohan Bopanna kick-started their mixed doubles event at Wimbledon 2021 with a triumph over their compatriots Ankita Raina and Ramkumar Ramanathan on Friday.

The unseeded pair of Sania and Rohan defeated Ankita and Ramkumar in straight sets 6-2, 7-5 in just over an hour on Court 8 of the All England Club, London.

Ankita and Ramkumar were a late entry to the main draw of the mixed doubles event as an alternate team following the withdrawal of Hungary's Marton Fucsovics and Timea Babos and as a result, they played an all-Indian first round at the Championships.

Sania and Bopanna will next take on France's Nicolas Mahut and Kristina Mladenovic in the second round on Saturday.

Moreover, Sania is set to partner Ankita at the Tokyo Olympics later this month after qualifying for the Summer Games through her protected ranking of No. 9.

On Thursday, Sania and her American partner Bethanie Mattek-Sands qualified for the second round at the doubles event at the Wimbledon 2021.

Sania is returning to the Championships after four long years. The 2021 edition is her first Wimbledon since having a baby. Sania and Mattek-Sands defeated sixth seeds Alexa Guarachi and Desirae Krawczyk 7-5, 6-3 in their opening match of the doubles event on Thursday that lasted an hour and 28 minutes on Court 8.