The Hindu : Sport / Tennis : Sania makes an early exit

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Aug 11, 2005

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Sport - Tennis

Sania makes an early exit

NEW DELHI: Sania Mirza went down 3-6, 6-1, 4-6 to the 51st-ranked Iveta Benesova of the Czech Republic in the first round of the $585,000 JPMorgan Chase Open tennis tournament in Los Angeles.

The 48th-ranked Sania was unable to cope with the abdominal pain, as she has been grappling with a pulled muscle for some time, but refused to attribute that as an excuse for her defeat.

"It was an up and down match. The stomach was troubling me. I couldn't serve at all. But that is no excuse. Benesova played well'', said the 18-year-old Sania.

The Hyderabad girl had to be content with one WTA point and $1675. However, she opted to look at the bright side of the picture and opined that the much-needed rest would possibly help her be at energetic best at the U.S. Open.

"It has been a lot of matches. I am resting till next Tuesday. I will be training partially during this period too'', said Sania who had already confirmed her decision to skip the tournament next week in Toronto.

Sania would return to professional action with an event at Forest Hills a week before the last Grand Slam of the season at Flushing Meadows.

`'After the U.S. Open I return home, and compete at Bali'', said Sania.

The $225,000 tournament scheduled to be held in Indonesia from September 12 will serve as a preparation to Asian conditions for Sania prior to the $140,000 Sunfeast Open to be staged in Kolkata the following week.

Sharapova moves up

Meanwhile Maria Sharapova took the first step toward a JPMorgan Chase Open title and the No. 1 ranking with a 7-6 (7), 6-2 win over close friend Maria Kirilenko in a second-round match on Tuesday.

Sharapova, playing for the first time since losing in the semifinals last month at Wimbledon, struggled at times in the first set, losing serve three times and breaking fellow Russian Kirilenko three times before winning the tiebreaker.

Things went much better for the 18-year-old player in the second set. Sharapova lost just four points in winning five straight games for a 5-1 lead, then closed out the 1-hour, 50-minute match on serve when Kirilenko, who needed medical attention for a strained right elbow after the set's third game, hit a forehand return into the net.

Top-seeded Sharapova can replace Lindsay Davenport as No. 1 in the WTA Tour rankings by reaching the semifinals and beating opponents ranked highly enough to give her 28 bonus points. She got eight of them for the win over No. 51 Kirilenko.

If she doesn't get the bonus points against a field weakened by the withdrawals of Davenport, Serena Williams and others, she will have to reach the final to assure herself of being No. 1 when the next rankings come out Monday.

``I'm more focused on winning the tournament than on being No. 1 right now,'' she said.

She played about as well as she could have hoped for.

``There was a lot of rustiness,'' Sharapova said. ``The first match (after a layoff) is always tough. You practice hard and work on a lot of things, but the actual competition is totally different. I was just trying to get in a groove, get my feet wet.''

Roddick ousted

Paul-Henri Mathieu's 14th ace finished off third-seeded Andy Roddick 7-5, 6-3 in the first round of the Rogers Cup on Tuesday, which started with second-seeded Lleyton Hewitt retiring ill.

Roddick, a Rogers Cup finalist the last three years and champion in 2003, was coming off a victory in Washington last weekend but was out-served and out-hustled by the Frenchman, the last direct acceptance in the 64-man field with a world ranking of 63.

Mathieu, whose win improved his season record to only 18-19, beat a top-10 opponent for the first this year.

Myskina through

Former French Open champion Anastasia Myskina rallied to defeat fellow Russian Viktoriya Kutuzova 4-6, 6-4, 6-0 Tuesday in the first round of the Nordic Light Open.

The second-seeded Myskina, who is favoured to win her 10th WTA title in Stockholm after top-seeded Venus Williams pulled out with the flu, will next play France's Camille Pin.

France's Stephanie Foretz upset seventh-seeded Catalina Castano of Colombia 6-3, 7-6 (3).

The results:

At Carson (JPMorgan Chase Open): Second round: Varvara Lepchenko bt Silvija Talaja Croatia 6-4, 6-2; Maria Sharapova bt Maria Kirilenko 7-6 (7), 6-2; Klara Koukalova bt Amy Frazier 6-3, 4-6, 6-3. First round: Iveta Benesova bt Saniz Mirza 6-3, 1-6, 6-4; Conchita Martinez Spain bt Mashona Washington 6-1, 6-4.

At Montreal (Rogers Cup Masters Series): First round: Florent Serra bt Lleyton Hewitt 4-3, retd.; Robin Soderling bt Radek Stepanek 6-3, 6-4; Taylor Dent bt Ivan Ljubicic 1-6, 7-5, 6-3; Thomas Johansson bt Ivo Karlovic 6-1, 7-5; Rafael Nadal bt Carlos Moya 6-3, 6-7 (0), 6-3; Juan Carlos Ferrero bt Guillermo Coria 6-3, 6-2; Sebastien Grosjean bt Paradorn Srichaphan 7-6 (1), 3-6, 6-2; Paul-Henri Mathieu bt Andy Roddick 7-5, 6-3.

At Stockholm (Nordic Light Open): First round: Stephanie Foretz bt Catalina Castano 6-3, 7-6 (3).; Vera Douchevina bt Ivana Lisjak 6-4, 6-2; Martina Sucha bt Caroline Wozniacki 7-6 (5), 6-1; Anastasia Myskina bt Viktoriya Kutuzova 4-6, 6-4, 6-0. — Agencies

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