Paris: Leander Paes on Thursday inched closer towards completing a 'Career Slam' in mixed doubles with Swiss partner Martina Hingis but may find compatriot Sania Mirza in his way as the two Indian players reached the semifinals of the French Open.
Unseeded Paes and Hingis scored a dominating 6-4, 6-3 win over fifth seeds Elena Vesnina and Bruno Soares in the quarterfinals of the clay court Major.
Sania and her Croatian partner Ivan Dodig, seeded second, overcame a mid-match lapse to beat the seventh seeded Yung-Jan Chan and Max Mirnyi 6-1, 3-6, 10-6 in their quarterfinal.
Sania last won a mixed doubles Grand Slam trophy at 2014 US Open with her then partner Soares. They next face third seeds and local favourites Kristina Mladenovic and Pierre-Hugues Herbert, who got the better of American eighth seeds Bob Bryan and Coco Vandeweghe 2-6, 6-2 13-11 in their quarterfinal match.
Paes and Hingis, winners of Australian Open, Wimbledon and US Open in 2015, next face sixth seeds Andrea Hlavackova from Czech Republic and Frenchman Edouard Roger-Vasselin.
If Sania and Paes win their respective semifinals, they will fight for the title. While Paes has nine mixed doubles crowns, Sania has won three in her career.
