The Hindu : Sport : Sania to meet Hingis in semifinals

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Sania to meet Hingis in semifinals

Nandita Sridhar

PHOTO: AFP

TACTICAL WIN: Sania Mirza won the battle of big hitters by going to Arvane Rezai's weaker side, her forehand.

Kolkata: A slug-fest like this one was bound to follow a pattern. Every point in the quarterfinal clash between Sania Mirza and Aravane Rezai was simply about who could hit harder, whose patience would thin quicker, and who could restrain herself from slamming the point to a quick end. At the end of it, Sania's hugely improved serve and backhand, and her strategy of hitting to her opponent's forehand edged her into the semifinal of the Sunfeast Open WTA tennis tournament, with a 6-4, 7-5 win over fourth seed Aravane Rezai, at the Netaji Indoor Stadium, on Friday.

Martina Hingis made sure the dream semifinal with Sania materialised, surviving a minor scare of her own, but eventually beating Thailand's Tamarine Tanasugarn 7-5, 6-2.

Very little separated Sania's and Rezai's games, as they mirrored each other, shot after shot in the first set. If Sania's forehand matched the thunder outside, then her opponent's backhand had enough in it, to create a storm of its own. "I tried my best to hit to her forehand, because I knew I had no chance with her backhand," said Sania after the match, adding that the Frenchwoman had one of the best backhands in the women's game.

Solid stroke-production

Showing a lot more solidity than what one has come to associate with her, Sania sent down breathtaking winners in the first set, despite messing up a few easy chances to smack clean winners by playing drop shots, which flopped. Extremely impatient, Rezai, sent out too many shots, which proved her undoing. Serving for the set when up 5-4, Sania surprised all by showing exemplarily net-play under pressure, clinching the first set in 43 minutes.

The second set was freakishly similar to Sania's second round match, with Rezai running away with a 4-1 lead, after which the fifth seed changed her strategy from hitting hard to hitting harder, taking advantage of Rezai's shoulder injury. After an injury time-out when she was up 4-3, Rezai's serve fell apart and Sania capitalised on that, completing her win in one hour and forty-five minutes.

"I just needed to get into rhythm, and my serve helped me out," said Sania. When asked about her improved backhand, she said, "I have been working on it. Earlier Sania Mirza was just a forehand, now there is a backhand too."

Shockingly slow start

Hingis got off to a shocking start, going down 2-4, in the first set, against Tanasugarn, whose 29-year-old body did nothing to stop her from retrieving potential winners. Seemingly a little too relaxed earlier on, the Swiss, whose fluidity was not backed by accuracy, found her bearings in quick time to set up the dream semifinal.

Earlier, Russia's Olga Poutchkova defeated Italy's Alberta Brianti 7-5, 6-3 while Uzbekistan's Iroda Tulyaganova prevailed over Russian Alla Kudryavtseva 4-6, 6-2, 6-2, in their respective quarterfinal matches.

Shikha-Czink concede doubles semifinal

Shikha Uberoi and Melinda Czink's run came to an end, after Czink, suffering from viral fever was forced to pull-out of the semifinal, when they were down 3-6, against Yulia Beygelzimer and Yuliana Fedak.

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