MELBOURNE: Someone else wearing black, twirling her racquet and looking remarkably like Sania Mirza showed up on show court No. 3 on Thursday. But it wasn't her.

Sania Mirza, the real deal, smacks the ball like a sergeant major, salivates at the idea of a scrap, and walks the court like an invading Viking. Thursday's impersonator moved like she was clad in cement shoes, collected so many errors it seemed she forgot the dimensions of the court, and owned the distracted body language of a player whose rhythm had abruptly gone on holiday.

When the second round match finally finished, won 6-3, 7-5 by Michaella Krajicek, Sania sent her racquet scurrying across the floor towards her bag. Some days it is a passable wand, on Thursday it was a stick of useless graphite.

The agony was complete, when the 19-year old, partnering Corina Morariu of the United States, lost 6-2, 6-1 to the 14th-seeded pairing of Russia's Svetlana Kuznetsova and France's Amelie Mauresmo in the first round of women's doubles.

The Indian had reason to be deeply disappointed for her game has a superior architecture to the one she unveiled in the second round. Her threat stems from an exquisite timing but on Thursday her coordination was off as hand divorced eye.

Later she was expectedly philosophical, saying: "That's the way it is, some days are better than others. I really didn't have rhythm through the match. It's hard when you're not playing your best tennis. The bottom line is I didn't play to my standard".

Not much difference

Little separated the two players — the Indian, 19, owner of a No. 32 ranking and one WTA title, the Dutchwoman, 17, ranked No. 43, and winner of two titles, one this summer in Hobart, her strokes perhaps more keenly oiled.

Their differences lay more in personality and in approach. Krajicek is sober, undemonstrative, meeting winner and error with equanimity, no expression stealing across her face, at best allowing herself a girlish fist pump on occasion. Sania is more revealing of herself, both athlete and actor as she emotes through hand, shoulders, face. Often she clenches her fist, on Thursday she had little reason to.

A much-anticipated muscular joust between ambitious teenagers out to claim reputations was replaced by a limp duel laced with ugly shot-making, too many points prematurely amputated by mistakes.

If tennis can be measured by numbers then Sania got her equation wrong, with more winners than her opponent (20 to 16) but infinitely more unforced errors (35 to 26). The Indian's occasional glittering stroke left a memory, but the Dutchwoman's finer consistency had the greater impact.

Neither player started with a flourish, and breaks were exchanged in the first two games of the first set, but while the Dutchwoman collected herself the Indian did not. She was broken twice more, dragged a forehand return winner down the line to break back but surrendered the set by again failing to hold serve at 3-5.

Mystified

Sania's father, Imran, was mystified later for he said she was fluent during practice, but as she correctly pointed out there was no wind during practice, nor an opponent.

Sania at full throttle is mostly allergic to the idea of defence, at her finest she is all hostility, dismissive of error for she believes a winner is merely a shot away. But on Thursday, a misfiring forehand interrupted every assertive idea, and when she gamely attempted to be more defensive, that did not work either.

Her anguish was understandable, for it appeared as if every working part of her game had gone on indefinite strike.

Despite the loss of the first set, despite her fractured game, always Sania threatened to have the Dutchwoman's measure, always there existed the promise of a comeback. She had an opportunity to break Krajicek for a 3-2 lead but pushed a simple volley wide, lost her serve to go 2-4, broke back immediately to 4-3, and her chance then hung on three break points in the eighth game.

Krajicek, her game quieter but more solid, curling her forehand cross-court with elegant menace, held on and Mirza's moment had passed. The Indian saved two match points at 4-5 down but at 5-6 her charge was done.

Sania's journey, so tumultuous last year, is bound to hit the odd pothole; nothing is harder in sport than taking new techniques and ideas from the practice court into matches. Her serve will find itself, her rhythm will return, her feet will dance quicker.

"Nothing is magic", she said, "nothing happens overnight. It's going to take a few months (to put everything in her game into place). But I'm going to keep trying".

Not much more can be asked for.

Upsets

Agencies add:

In the biggest upset in the men's section, third seed Lleyton Hewitt, who was struggling with a left ankle injury, was knocked out by Argentina's Juan Ignacio Chela in the second round.

Chela advanced by winning 6-4, 6-4, 6-7(8), 6-2, making Hewitt the highest seeded casualty of the first Grand Slam of the season.

Meanwhile, Roger Federer kept his cool in searing heat to glide into the third round but women's fifth seed Mary Pierce lost her focus and was bundled out.

Pierce failed to find the sizzling comeback form that swept her to two Grand Slam finals last year and fell 6-3, 7-5 to Iveta Benesova of the Czech Republic, the second big-name casualty after Venus Williams.

A third could soon be joining them with Kim Clijsters continuing to struggle with a hip injury, which she said threatened her campaign, which is good news for Martina Hingis whose remarkable comeback cranked up a gear.

The triple champion blitzed Finn Emma Laine 6-1, 6-1, and with Pierce out the draw has opened up for her.

THE RESULTS

Prefix denotes seedings

Men's singles (second round): 5-Nikolay Davydenko (Rus) bt Kevin Kim (U.S.) 4-6, 6-0, 6-3, 6-2; 1-Roger Federer (Sui) bt Florian Mayer (Ger) 6-1, 6-4, 6-0; 6-Guillermo Coria (Arg) bt Federico Luzzi (Ita) 7-6 (10), 6-4, 6-3; 23-Igor Andreev (Rus) bt Raemon Sluiter (Ned) 3-6, 6-3, 7-6(4), 2-6, 6-2; Peter Luczak (Aus) bt 24-Olivier Rochus (Bel) 6-7(4), 6-4, 6-1, 6-7(1), 6-1; 30-Max Mirnyi (Blr) bt Davide Sanguinetti (Ita) 7-5, 6-3, 4-6, 7-6(8); Kristof Vliegen (Bel) bt 28-Fernando Verdasco (Esp) 3-6, 6-2, 7-6(4), 7-5; 12-Dominik Hrbaty (Svk) bt Dick Norman (Bel) 6-2, 7-5, 5-7, 4-6, 10-8; 25-Sebastien Grosjean (Fra) bt Juan Monaco (Arg) 6-4, 6-3, 6-3; 21-Nicolas Kiefer (Ger) bt Boris Pashanski (SCG) 4-6, 6-1, 6-4, 6-1; 15-Juan Carlos Ferrero (Esp) bt Janko Tipsarevic (SCG) 6-3, 3-6, 5-7, 6-3, 6-2; Juan Ignacio Chela (Arg) bt 3-Lleyton Hewitt (Aus) 6-4, 6-4, 6-7(8), 6-2.

Women's singles (second round): Samantha Stosur (Aus) bt 21-Ana Ivanovic (SCG) 6-3, 7-5; Michaella Krajicek (Ned) bt 32-Sania Mirza (Ind) 6-3, 7-5; 20-Flavia Pennetta (Ita) bt Martina Sucha (Svk) 6-3, 6-0; 16-Nicole Vaidisova (Cze) bt Anna Chakvetadze (Rus) 6-2, 6-1; Aiko Nakamura (Jpn) bt 31-Gisela Dulko (Arg) 6-1, 6-1; Maria Sanchez Lorenzo (Esp) bt 22-Anna-Lena Groenefeld (Ger) 4-6, 6-4, 6-1; 12-Anastasia Myskina (Rus) bt Jamea Jackson (U.S.) 7-6(4), 0-6, 6-3; 7-Patty Schnyder (Sui) bt Shinobu Asagoe (Jpn) 6-1, 7-6(9); 2-Kim Clijsters (Bel) bt Yuan Meng (Chn) 6-4, 6-2; Sofia Arvidsson (Swe) bt 19-Dinara Safina (Rus) 6-4, 6-0; 3-Amelie Mauresmo (Fra) bt Emilie Loit (Fra) 7-6(1), 6-2; 15-Francesca Schiavone (Ita) bt Catalina Castano (Col) 6-1, 4-6, 6-3; Roberta Vinci (Ita) bt 27-Marion Bartoli (Fra) 6-4, 3-6, 6-3; Iveta Benesova (Cze) bt 5-Mary Pierce (Fra) 6-3, 7-5; Martina Hingis (Sui) bt Emma Laine (Fin) 6-1, 6-1.

Men's doubles (first round): 11-Mahesh Bhupathi (Ind) & Wesley Moodie (RSA) bt Daniele Bracciali (Ita) & Oliver Marach (Aut) 7-5, 6-3.

Women's doubles (first round): 14-Svetlana Kuznetsova (Rus) & Amelie Mauresmo (Fra) bt Sania Mirza (Ind) & Corina Morariu (U.S.) 6-2, 6-1.

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