Sania Mirza and her Russian partner Elena Vesnina have advanced to the pre-quarterfinals of the women's doubles in the Madrid Open tennis tournament. In Madrid today, the unseeded duo defeated eighth seeded Czech team of Iveta Benesova and Barbora Strycova Zahlavova 3-6, 6-1, 10-2 in the first round. In the three lakh five hundred thousand euro clay court event, the Indo-Russian combination will next take on Russia's Nadia Petrova and Australia's Anastasia Rodionova. Nadia and Anastasia defeated Russia's Vera Dushevina and Tatiana Poutchek of Belarus 6-3 6-4 in their first round of the WTA Premier tournament.