Sania Mirza and Barbora Strycova make a nervy start at Pan Pacific Open

Tokyo: Sania Mirza and Barbora Strycova beat Misaki Doi and Kurumi Nara 6-7 (3), 7-5, 10-8 in the first round of the women`s doubles event at the Pan Pacific Open tennis tournament here on Tuesday.

The Indo-Czech advanced to the quarter-finals after a hard-fought contest against their Japanese opponents at Indoor Court 3.

The match was a see-saw affair and stretched for 2 hours and two minutes.

The first set was a close contest which the Indo-Czech pair surrendered in 48 minutes in a tie-breaker.

But from there on Sania-Barbora managed to hold a slight edge on the contest and edged the second set 7-5 in 56 minutes and the deciding thirs set tie-breaker by a slender margin in 18 minutes.

They will next face China`s Yifan Xu and Japanese Miyu Kato in the quarters.

Sania and Barbora were beaten in the quarter-finals of the US Open recently.