Sania Mirza kept Indian hopes alive at the Bangalore Open. She and Lizel Huber of Russia defeated Martina Muller of Germany and Silvija Talaja of Crotia to enter the semi-finals, even as Indian hopes in the singles were shattered when Isha Lakhani, the lone survivor in the first round, was ousted in the second round on Thursday night.

In a late night match, Sania and Huber beat Muller and Silvija 7-6 (12-10), 2-6, 6-4 in the match that lasted more than an hour.

The first set saw both pairs trying to prevail upon each other but it was the Mirza-Huber pair, which succeeded. But Muller and Silvija were not willing to give up and fought back to equal by winning the second set.

However, they could not maintain their tempo against the second seeded pair and succumbed in the final set.