The Hindu : Sport : Sania's run comes to an end

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Mar 04, 2005

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Sania's run comes to an end

DUBAI, MARCH 3. Sania Mirza's dream run came to an end as the 28th ranked Jelena Jankovic of Serbia subdued the 18-year-old Indian with a 6-2, 6-2 victory in the quarterfinals of the $1,000,000 Dubai Open tennis championship here on Thursday evening.

"I have never played in such an atmosphere. The whole crowd was against me. I tried to play my game and stay focused. I think I did that pretty well," said Jankovic, who was making her first semifinal of the season.

It was a bad start for Sania as she dropped the first game after opting to serve. Actually, it was a surprise that she chose to serve as she had received both against Svetlana Kuznetsova and Jelena Kostanic in the previous two rounds.

The first set was over in 20 minutes, as the 20-year-old Serbian served and stroked with ease, actually enjoying the atmosphere even though the capacity crowd was backing the Indian.

In fact, Sania struggled to hold serve and managed to do so only in the seventh game of the first set. She did break Jankovic in the fourth game to temporarily arrest the slide after having been reduced to 0-3, but the magic was missing. Jankovic served out the set at love to assert her authority.

There was a bit of recovery as Sania played better in the beginning of the second set, holding serve in the first game. However, she continued to spray her shots, in her attempt to hit her way past trouble, and thus it was no surprise that Jankovic took a 5-2 lead breaking Sania in the third, fifth and seventh games, though she herself dropped serve in the fourth game. Jankovic served out the match in 47 minutes.

A victory would have given Sania another 54 points and that would have pushed her into the 60s.

Myskina ousted

Earlier, French Open champion Anastasia Myskina missed a match point before becoming the second Grand Slam titleholder from Russia within two days to fall.

Myskina, the third seed, was a set and 6-5 up and held an advantage point against Patty Schnyder, the World No. 14 from Switzerland, before fading to a 6-7(0), 7-6(2), 6-4 quarterfinal defeat against a talented but unpredictable opponent.

Myskina's compatriot Svetlana Kuznetsova, the U.S. Open champion had lost to Sania Mirza on Tuesday.

The results (quarterfinals): Patty Schnyder bt Anastasia Myskina 6-7(0), 7-6(2), 6-4; Lindsay Davenport bt Conchita Martinez 6-1, 6-4.

Serena Williams bt Daniela Hantuchova 6-4, 6-3; Jelena Jankovic bt Sania Mirza 6-2, 6-2.

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