The Hindu : Sport / Tennis : Sania Mirza falters against Venus Williams

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Jul 29, 2005

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Sport - Tennis

Sania Mirza falters against Venus Williams

New Delhi: Sania Mirza's lucky run was cut short by Wimbledon champion Venus Williams in the second round of the $585,000 WTA tournament at Stanford (USA).

Sania, who entered the tournament as lucky loser, crashed out 3-6, 2-6 against the second-seeded American in front of a sellout crowd of 4353, in her second hardcourt tune-up for the U.S. Open.

Williams, a two-time title winner here, will next play seventh seed Jelena Jankovic of Serbia, who beat American Amy Frazier 6-0, 6-3, in the quarterfinals of the Tier II event, according to information received here on Thursday.

After Sania lost on her service in game two of the first set, Williams demonstrated her powerful serves and made no mistake in earning easy points against the 18-year-old.

Sania made too many mistakes to stay close against the ninth-ranked Williams. The American hit three straight aces in her first service game of the second set and broke Sania in the first, fifth and seventh game.

``I had a lot of chances and I should have capitalised on them a bit more,'' said Sania, who is nursing a pulled stomach muscle.

``I think it was much closer than the score suggests. The second set, I would hit a winner the first point and she would hit three aces. I guess that's why she won Wimbledon, because she plays better on the important points,'' she said.

``Thankfully, there are Indians everywhere I go,'' she said. ``I came back inside and people said, `Oh, it looked like you were the local girl.''

Sania entered the draw as lucky loser after America's Chanda Rubin withdrew because of inflammation in her left ankle.

Last year's finalist Williams clinched her first tournament match victory since her Wimbledon title after which she had also played in the Fed Cup in Moscow.

``My serve definitely picked up,'' said Williams, who did participate in Fed Cup in Moscow after Wimbledon. ``I played a lot better than I expected, but I also didn't feel I played that well.''

Talking to UNI from Hyderabad, Mr. Imran Mirza, father of Sania, said, "When you play against a player of Venus Williams's calibre, you just try to prevent a complete humiliation. Sania was beaten in the second round match but she has not been humiliated. And preventing such humiliation is an achievement in itself. So I think she has done quite well.''

Though the family has not yet heard from their celebrity daughter after the match, Mr. Mirza said this sort of match would do a world of good to his daughter.

``Playing against Venus or Serena Williams would definitely do a lot of good to Sania's game '' he felt.

Haas bows out

At Los Angeles, Xavier Malisse ended his personal losing streak against Tommy Haas, upsetting the defending champion of the Mercedes-Benz Cup, 1-6, 6-3, 6-4.

Coria rallies

At Umag, second-seeded Guillermo Coria rallied past former champion Felix Mantilla 3-6, 6-2, 6-1 to reach the Croatia Open quarterfinals.

Coria will face seventh-seeded Juan Carlos Ferrero in the quarterfinals.

The results: At Stanford (Bank of the West Classic): Second round: Venus Williams bt Sania Mirza 6-3, 6-2; Patty Schnyder bt Marion Bartoli 6-4, 7-5; Nathalie Dechy bt Lisa Raymond 3-6, 6-3, 6-4; Jelena Jankovic bt Amy Frazier 6-0, 6-3.

At Los Angeles (ATP Mercedes-Benz Cup): Second round: Dominik Hrbaty bt Jan Hernych 6-4, 6-2; Ricardo Mello bt Amir Hadad 6-3, 6-1; Juan Ignacio Chela bt Dmitry Tursunov 3-6, 6-4, 6-2; Xavier Malisse bt Tommy Haas 1-6, 6-3, 6-4.

At Umag (ATP Croatia Open): Second round: Jiri Novak bt Albert Portas 6-0, 4-6, 7-5; Lukas Dlouhy bt Ilia Bozoljac 6-3, 6-2; Guillermo Coria bt Felix Mantilla 3-6, 6-2, 6-1; Juan Carlos Ferrero bt Novak Djokovic 6-4, 6-2.

At Kitzbuehel (ATP Generali Open): Third round: Feliciano Lopez bt Florian Mayer 7-5, 6-1; Mariano Zabaleta bt Nicolas Almagro 6-3, 4-6, 6-3. — AP

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