PHOTO: MOHAMMED YOUSUF

NO SWEAT: Sania Mirza did not have to exert herself too much against Shuai Zhang.

HYDERABAD: A vastly superior India blew China away in the opening tie of the Asian Hopman Cup at the Sports Authority of Andhra Pradesh tennis complex here on Thursday. Setting the tone for the evening was Sania Mirza's breezy 6-2, 6-2 win over Shuai Zhang.

Rohan Bopanna beat Mao Xin Gong 6-3, 6-2 to make it 2-0.

Bopanna and Sania then combined to beat Zhang and Gong 6-2, 6-4.

Hyderabad's favourite faced few problems for most of the match, which took two minutes over an hour. The first service percentage was high, as was the winner-unforced error ratio healthy. The forehand as usual was forceful, bolstered by the backhand that effected a break in the fifth game. Sania wrested serve in the seventh game, mainly on the weight of her forehands.

For her part, Zhang, ranked 205, showed a penchant to retrieve, on occasion tramping the length of the baseline to rifle a return. A fast flagging first serve in the second set saw her skid to a 1-5 deficit pretty soon. But Zhang wasn't finished just yet, as game seven proved. Advantage swung no less than 10 times, but the Chinese lass staved off as many as seven match points to hang on grimly. Serving for the set Sania drew level with her fourth ace and romped home in what she later described as an interesting end.

Bazooka Bopanna

With the firepower of a bazooka, Rohan Bopanna took exactly an hour to demolish Gong. Tossing the ball high, Bopanna's racquet head descended on the ball like a sledge hammer, bouncing off rival turf untouched, eight times. The frail looking Gong, ranked ocean depths below at 1106, negotiated some of the bullet-like offerings but could do little to stop the blitzkrieg.

And if you thought the Bangalore lad was more brawn than skill, the diagonal drop he deployed off the back-hand left an approaching Mao without a clue. Bopanna broke Gong in the third game of the first set and forced his way in the third and fifth games of the second. Serving for the match, he unleashed his eighth ace and clinched the game at love.

The results: India bt China (Sania Mirza bt Shuai Zhang 6-2, 6-2, Rohan Bopanna bt Mao Xin Gong 6-3, 6-2; Bopanna & Mirza bt Zhang & Gong 6-2, 6-4).

Chinese Taipei bt Philippines (I-Hsuan Hwang bt Czarina Arevalo 6-0, 6-2, Ti Chen bt Patrick Tierro 6-2, 4-6, 6-4).

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail