Leander Paes and Cara Black celebrate after their quarter-final win at Wimbledon on Thursday. (AFP)

London: Top seeds Leander Paes and Cara Black breezed into the semi-finals of the mixed doubles event at Wimbledon with a facile straight sets win over 11th seeds Andre Sa and Ai Sugiyama Thursday.

The Indo-Zimbabwean duo needed little over an hour to defeat their opponents 6-3, 6-3 in the lop-sided quarter final match.

In the semis, they will take on the 12th seeded pair of Stephen Huss and Virginia Ruano Pascual. The Huss-Pascual duo defeated fourth seeds Kevin Ullyett and Su-Wei Hsieh 6-3, 5-7, 9-7 in a hard-fought quarter final match.

Paes thus stays in the hunt for a fifth mixed doubles Grand Slam title. The Indian ace has otherwise had an indifferent Championship.

Paes and his Czech partner Lukas Dlouhy made a first round exit in men’s doubles after they lost to the unseeded US pair of James Blake and Mardy Fish.

But in mixed doubles Paes and Black have gone from strength to strength.

Earlier the pairing emerged victorious in a contest involving three Indians as they defeated Mahesh Bhupathi and Sania Mirza to advance to the mixed doubles quarter finals. Paes and Black had won 6-2, 6-7(2-7), 6-3 in the two-hour-and-seven-minute third round match, which was the first between the two pairs.

(PTI)

Day IX results

Seeded players and Indians only

Men’s singles quarter finals — Andy Roddick (6, US) bt Lleyton Hewitt (Aus) 6-3, 6-7(10-12), 7-6(7-1), 4-6, 6-4; Andy Murray (3, GBR) bt Juan Carlos Ferrero (Esp) 7-5, 6-3, 6-2; Tommy Haas (24, Ger) bt Novak Djokovic (4, Srb) 7-5, 7-6(8-6), 4-6, 6-3; Roger Federer (2, Sui) bt Ivo Karlovic (22, Cro) 6-3, 7-5, 7-6(7-3)
Men’s doubles quarter finals — Wesley Moodie/Dick Norman (9, RSA/Bel) bt Mahesh Bhupathi/ Mark Knowles (4, Ind/Bah) 7-6 (9-7), 4-6, 7-6 (9-7), 5-7, 6-4; James Blake/Mardy Fish (US) bt Simon Aspelin/ Paul Hanley (SweAus) 7-6(7-5), 6-4, 7-6(7-5)

Women’s doubles quarter finals — Serena Williams/Venus Williams (4, US) bt Anna-Lena Groenefeld/ Vania King (12, Ger/US) 6-2, 7-5; Samantha Stosur/ Rennae Stubbs (3, Aus) bt Kristina Barrois/Tathiana Garbin (Ger/Ita) 1-6, 6-3, 6-4; Anabel Medina Garrigues/ Virginia Ruano Pascual(2, Esp bt Alisa Kleybanova/ Ekaterina Makarova (Rus) 6-4, 7-5; Cara Black/ Liezel Huber (1, Zim/US) bt Nuria Llagostera Vives/ Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez (11, Esp) 4-6, 6-3, 6-0