The Hindu : Front Page : Sania scales another peak

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Feb 13, 2005

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Sania scales another peak

By Our Special Correspondent

UP, UP AND UP: Sania Mirza stretched home rule to its logical conclusion in the Hyderabad Open WTA tournament on Saturday. — Photo: P. V. Sivakumar

HYDERABAD, FEB.12. Sania Mirza stretched her Cinderella Run in the Hyderabad Open women's tennis tournament to its fairytale climax on Saturday evening as she outlasted Alyona Bondarenko of Ukraine 6-4, 5-7, 6-3 to become the first Indian woman to win a WTA Tour event.

The charismatic 18-year-old, who has developed a fancy for re-writing Indian tennis history in the last few weeks, survived a few tense moments late in the match before wrapping it up with tremendous confidence. When the big question was asked of her at the doorstep of victory, Sania showed the special brand of self-assurance that has under-pinned her rise from relative obscurity to stardom over the last few weeks.

Serving for the match in the eighth game of the third set, Sania let go of two championship points in dramatic circumstances before pulling herself together to break Alyona's serve and close out the contest in the next game.

Last month, in Melbourne, Sania had become the first Indian woman to make the third round in Grand Slam singles at the Centenary Australian Open before losing to Serena Williams, who went on to win the title.

"She is a very talented player. I see a very good future for her,'' Serena had said after winning a close second set and the match against Sania in the third round of the year's first Grand Slam on January 21.

A little over three weeks later, that future is already upon us, if the events of five memorable days in the Hyderabad Open are anything to go by.

To focus on fitness

PTI reports:

Sania said she was extremely happy with her performance in the tournament, which was quite tough. "I am extremely happy and can't believe it," she told reporters after the match. "Now my immediate job is to get some medical attention and a fitness course."

On the final, Sania said she had to change her tactics towards the end of the match since her opponent had started to get used to her game. "I changed the tactics in the third set as my opponent got used to my fast paced game. I slowed it down and used more of my forehand rather deliberately."

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