Sania in doubles pre-quarters

Building on her improved doubles performance, Sania Mirza marched into the pre-quarterfinal of the women's doubles with Spanish partner Anabel Medina Garrigues at the Australian Open on Friday.

The tenth seeds beat Russia's Ekaterina Bychkova and Martina Muller of Germany 6-3, 6-4 in the second round in Melbourne.

Sania-Anabel will face sixth seeds Daniela Hantuchova and Ai Sugiyama next.

Sania, who went down 3-6, 2-6 to Japan's Aiko Nakamura in the singles second round, has teamed up with Frenchman Fabrice Santoro in the mixed doubles.