The Hindu : Sport : Sania enters quarterfinals

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Feb 10, 2005

Sport

Sport

Sania enters quarterfinals

By A. Joseph Antony

NO TWIST TO THE TALE: Sania Mirza being attended to by a physio after she twisted her ankle during the match. Despite the injury Sania advanced to the quarterfinals. — Photo: P.V. Sivakumar

HYDERABAD, FEB. 9. Anam Mirza and her merry band had enough cause for cheer at the Sports Authority of Andhra Pradesh complex here on Wednesday.

Backed by a horde of relatives and friends, she could have cried herself hoarse, for big sister Sania shunted out fourth-seeded Jie Zheng 6-1, 2-6, 6-3 and advanced to the quarterfinals of the WTA-Hyderabad Open 2005.

Unfazed by the prospect of facing Zheng, world No. 61, the Hyderabad lass dominated the encounter but for the second set, when she was hampered by a strain on her right ankle.

Opening her charge with a service winner, she was certainly in control, the issue settled swiftly in her favour, with the exchanges few.

Zheng's serve held little terror for Sania, who smacked her returns out of the Chinese player's reach repeatedly.

With a win over 2003 champion Tamarine Tanasugarn to her credit in addition to a defeat of Jelena Dokic in Dubai, Zheng spilt serve in the very second game of the contest.

That was an ominous sign and Sania slashed away at her rival's serve, wresting the fourth game as well.

Even when Zheng held her own in the sixth, she lacked the authority with which Sania called the tune.

Zheng's class was in evidence briefly, with eye-catching netplay in the second set's opening game.

Sania stumbled with her serve in the next and Zheng went up 3-0. In the sixth, Sania chased a ball, fell and lost the game too.

After an injury time-out and being attended to by a masseur, Zheng pummelled the short ball well to wrap up the set in double quick time.

Motivating herself

"Many thoughts crossed my mind when I tumbled," Sania recalled later. Would this be the last round, she wondered. "I was definitely disturbed at that point," she said.

With painkillers, she shut out everything to focus on the game, motivating herself by repeatedly telling herself she could run and play.

In the decider, Sania was on song with one thunderbolt of a serve bouncing off Zheng's `gut'!

Zheng's games on serve got increasingly extended and before long, Sania closed out the challenge like a woman in a hurry.

Earlier in the evening, Alyona Bondarenko showed better control on the angled returns to defeat Melinda Czink 6-3, 6-7(2), 6-4. With 14 International Tennis Federation (ITF) titles and an entry into the third round of the U.S. Open behind her, Czink's unforced errors were largely instrumental in her fall.

On court four, favourite Na Li of China subdued Ma Emilia Salerni, two time WTA tour semifinalist at Hobart and Quebec 6-2, 7-5. The Argentine had upset Natalia Zvereva at the Sydney Olympics and was the junior champion at Wimbledon and the U.S. Open in 2000. Second seed Anna Lena Groenefeld faced few problems in crushing qualifier Jarmila Gajdosova of Slovakia 6-3, 6-2.

Ex-Israeli army soldier Tzipora Obziler made short work of Evie Dominikovic of Australia 6-3, 6-2, while compatriot Shahar Peer had no such luck, bowing out 4-6, 3-6 to Marie Eve Pelletier of Canada. In a long drawn slugfest, Maria Kirilenko overcame Mara Santangelo 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (4) on court three.

In doubles action, the favourite pair of Martina Navratilova and Anna Lena Groenefeld needed less than an hour to steamroller Shiho Hisamatsu and Remi Tezuko 6-2, 6-1.

Surprisingly, most of the crowd didn't stay back to watch the legendary player, trooping out soon after Sania's victory instead.

The results:

Singles (pre-quarterfinals): Alyona Bondarenko (Ukr) bt Melinda Czink (Hun) 6-3, 6-7(2), 6-4; Sania Mirza (Ind) bt Jie Zheng (Chn) 6-1, 2-6, 6-3; Tzipora Obziler (Isr) bt Evie Dominikovic (Aus) 6-3, 6-2; Marie Eve Pelletier (Can) bt Shahar Peer (Isr) 6-4, 6-3; Tian Tian Sun (Chn) bt Akgul Amanmuradova (Uzb) 6-2, 6-1, Maria Kirilenko (Rus) bt Mara Santangelo (Ita) 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (4); Anna Lena Groenefeld (Ger) bt Jarmila Gajdosova (Slo) 6-3, 6-2; Na Li (Chn) bt Ma Emilia Salerni (Arg) 6-2, 7-5.

Doubles (first round): Martina Navratilova & Anna Lena Groenefeld bt Shiho Hisamatsu & Remi Tezuka 6-2, 6-1; Akgul Amanmuradova & Tatiana Panova bt Katerina Bondarenko & Alyona Bondarenko 6-0, 6-4.

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