Preview: Sania Mirza/Rohan Bopanna vs Luisa Stefani/Rafael Matos in Australian Open final

The Indian pair will play against the Brazilian duo of Luisa Stefani and Rafael Matos in the title decider.

Sania Mirza and Rohan Bopanna will be playing the finals in mixed doubles at the Australian Open 2023. This will be an emotional final for Sania Mirza as she is set to retire in February with this being her last grand slam. The Indian mixed doubles pair is set to take on the Brazilian pair Luisa Stefani and Rafael Matos in the finals.

The path to the finals was an easy one for the Indian pair winning the first three matches comfortably in straight sets. Mirza and Bopanna got a walkover in the quarterfinals and had to battle out hard in the semifinals beating the third-seed pair of Neal Skupski and Krawczyk. 29-year-old Neal Skupski is an experienced from Great Britain and is the current world number one in men’s doubles. Skupski and Krawczyk are the reigning Wimbledon Champions and were the favourites to defeat the Indian pair.

Match Details - Australian Open Mixed Doubles Final

Date - 27 January 2023

Time - 06:30 PM IST

Venue - Rod Laver Arena

Live Telecast - Sony Sports Ten 5 (English) & Sony Sports Ten 3 (Hindi)

Live Streaming - SonyLiv app/website & Jio TV

The Indian pair after winning the first set could have finished the match in the second. But they failed to convert the match point leading to a super tie break (10 points decider). Rohan Bopanna in particular looked in sublime form hitting the forehand and backhand with ease. Sania Mirza has won three mixed doubles grand slam titles with Rohan Bopanna winning one (2017 French Open). The Indian pair was close to winning an Olympic medal losing in the bronze medal playoff match at the 2016 Rio Olympics and the pair now has a chance to avenge the defeat and end the career on a high. 

Sania Mirza/Rohan Bopanna vs Luisa Stefani/Rafael Matos Preview

Luisa Stefani had a good 2022 season and won the women’s doubles title at the WTA Chennai Open partnering with Dabrowski. The Brazilian pair lost only one set en route to the finals. She started the 2023 season on a great note winning the women's doubles at the WTA 500 Adelaide International the pre cursor tournament for the Australian Open. Matos on the other hand lost in the opening round in the men's doubles. He was seeded 13th but came back strongly in the mixed doubles.

Rohan Bopanna has not had a good start to the 2023 season losing in the opening rounds (ATP Maharashtra Open and ATP Adelaide International). The same continued at the Australian Open as well losing in the first round to an unseeded pair. Sania Mirza lost in the second round in the women's doubles while being the eighth seed. Both combined well in the mixed doubles and reached the finals.

Prediction

Sania Mirza and Rohan Bopanna have a lot of experience going into the finals having played many tournaments together. The Brazilian pair also have good experience with Stefani in particular in red-hot form. With Sania Mirza playing her last grand slam, she will play her heart out and go for the kill and the Indians have a slight edge over the Brazilians.

Watch the LIVE coverage of Australian Open 2023 - Mixed Doubles Final on Sony Sports Ten 5 (English) & Sony Sports Ten 3 (Hindi) channels on 27th January 2023 from 6:00 am IST