Indian duo Sania Mirza and Mahesh Bhupathi have required less than an hour to dump Australia’s Anastasia Rodionova and Stephen Huss out of the mixed doubles race.
The 2008 runners-up got their Australian Open 2009 campaign off to an ideal start, winning 6-1 6-2.
Bhupathi opened the serving for the much-fancied Indian duo, and when a brilliant Huss forehand sailed past him on the second point, the locals looked far from intimidated.
But the brave faces quickly turned to awe, as their Indian opponents skipped out to a 5-0 lead on the back of some flawless service games and great court speed.
Having to fend off a set point to even get on the board, the Aussies were grateful when they backed Mirza into making an uncharacteristic mistake on her forehand.
In 23 minutes, the Indian pairing had sewn up the first set to the applause and songs of a large Indian contingent in the stands of Margaret Court Arena.
Not in danger of looking complacent, Mirza and Bhupathi approached the second set with just as much tenacity as the first.
Everything they hit was directed at the bodies of Rodionova and Huss, often catching the Aussies on the wrong foot.
Although able to get on the board in their opening service game, the locals were broken in the third, courtesy of some brilliant slices being hit over the net.
During the sixth game on the Indian serve, Huss and Rodionova got a look in, but when the deciding point sailed long, any resistance they could have potentially conjured up went with it.
Mirza and Bhupathi will meet either the Canadian duo of Aleksandra Wozniak and Daniel Nestor or Zi Yan of China and Mark Knowles of Bahamas in the quarterfinals.
Quick facts
Mirza and Bhupathi had nine unforced errors for the match, Rodionova and Huss had 13
Neither duo served an ace
The Indian pairing committed one double fault, the Aussies had two
The teams each had seven opportunities to break; the Indian duo were successful four times, and the Aussies were unsuccessful at every attempt
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