India going strong in Hopman Cup debut

India upset Croatia 2-1 to top Group B and boost their chances of making it to the title round in their maiden outing at the Hopman Cup mixed team tennis competition at Perth on Wednesday.Twenty-year-old Sania Mirza won her singles tie against Sanja Ancic 6-2 6-3 to give India the lead before a fighting Rohan Bopanna (281) lost to world number nine Mario Ancic 7-6 (2) 7-6 (3) to leave the tie level at 1-1.The Indians then won the decisive mixed doubles tie against the brother-sister combine 3-6 6-3 7-6 (10/8) in a thrilling encounter which lasted 79 minutes at the Burswood Dome.Sania, ranked 65th in the world, attributed the win to her ability to handle crowd pressure."I've played in front of big crowds before, and I think that helped me," the Indian star said.India next meet Spain, represented by world number seven Tommy Robredo and Anabel Medina Garrigues in their final group match.A win against Spain would see the unseeded Indian pair cruise into Friday's final, which would be a creditable effort considering it is their Hopman Cup debut.

Source : NDTV