Leander Paes and Sania Mirza insisted the controversy surrounding their Olympics mixed doubles partnership hasn't damaged their medal hopes.
The Indian duo defeated Serbia's Nenad Zimonjic and Ana Ivanovic 6-2, 6-4 in the first round at Wimbledon on Thursday, their first outing since an ugly selection wrangle split the Olympic squad.
The pair are playing together in acrimonious circumstances after Paes demanded an assurance that only he would be paired with Mirza, rather than Mahesh Bhupathi or Rohan Bopanna, following the row over Bhupathi's refusal to play with Paes in the men's doubles.
Mirza previously admitted she was uncomfortable at being used as "bait" to keep Paes happy after winning two Grand Slam titles with Bhupathi.
But, despite the stormy backdrop to their partnership, Mirza claimed their relationship is beginning to flourish on court.
"The secret of success in doubles and mixed doubles is communication. (It's working well) with him playing at the back and me playing at the net," she said.
Paes agreed that they are starting to build a rapport.
"We play as individuals but I try to encourage her all the time and she is getting better and better," he said.
With all the Indian men's and women's doubles teams eliminated from the Games, Paes and Mirza are their country's last hope of a medal and they remain in the hunt after a comfortable first round win on Court 14 at Wimbledon.
Next up for Paes and Mirza is a quarter-final clash against Belarusian top seeds Victoria Azarenka and Max Mirnyi.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/paes-mirza-move-second-round-174107771.html
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