Thursday, Jan 20, 2005
Thursday, Jan 20, 2005 |
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By Nirmal Shekar
MELBOURNE, JAN. 19. India's Sania Mirza earned herself a rare slice of history as she stormed into the third round of the Australian Open tennis championship at Melbourne Park here on Wednesday. The 18-year-old from Hyderabad outplayed Petra Mandula of Hungary 6-2, 6-1 in just 50 minutes to become the first-ever Indian woman to win two rounds in a Grand Slam singles event. Mirza, who on Monday matched Nirupama Vaidyanathan's 1998 feat by winning a first round match here, came through surprisingly easily today against an opponent who made far too many unforced errors on a hot afternoon. The victory has earned Mirza a shot at the former world No.1 Serena Williams in the third round on Friday. "Honestly, this is very surprising. I came here thinking I must at least win one round. Now I have the chance to play one of the all-time greats, Serena," said Mirza. With Mandula struggling to put together even a meagre challenge — the blisters in her right foot doing little to advance her cause — Mirza played confident, attacking tennis to take control of the match early before running away with it in quick time. "It was a no-pressure match for me," said Mirza, who was offered a wild card to play in the main draw and is now assured of at least $(Aus) 46,250 in prize money. "She made a lot of unforced errors but I am happy that I did what I had to do," said the Indian sensation.
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