The Hindu : Sport / Tennis : Sania Mirza makes semifinals

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Feb 10, 2007
ePaper

Sport

Sport - Tennis

Sania Mirza makes semifinals

PATTAYA : India's Sania Mirza twice came from behind to upset third-seeded Mara Santangelo 6-4, 7-6(4) and reach the semifinals of the Pattaya Open on Friday.

There were also victories for unseeded Sybille Bammer of Austria, who won a marathon battle against Martina Sucha, fourth seed Peng Shuai, who beat Israel's Tzipora Obziler 6-3, 6-2, and sixth seed Gisela Dulko of Argentina, who ended the run of Australia's Nicole Pratt 6-2, 6-3.

Sania made an appalling start against Santangelo, dropping her first two service games with double-faults. In contrast, her Italian opponent served well and followed up with strong groundstrokes to take a 4-1 lead before Sania finally gained a foothold.

Backhand error

With Santangelo failing to maintain the momentum, Sania fought back to 4-4 and then broke to lead 5-4 when a strong return forced Santangelo into a backhand error. Sania then closed out the set with an ace.

The second set was as closely contested as the first, with Santangelo breaking to lead 5-3 but then dropping her serve to love. Sania then went on to claim the tiebreak 7-4.

``It was the first time I had played her in singles or doubles and I was just trying to figure how she plays and get my rhythm,'' said Sania.

``It took me a little time, but I felt much better on the court and was moving better than a couple of days ago.

``I had a little serve trouble but thankfully I got the serves when I needed them. Both sets I was down, but I felt I started playing better when I was down. She has a really big serve but I started returning better, and that was a key in the tiebreak I think.''

Bammer had never beaten Sucha in five previous attempts, and she has probably never worked as hard as she did on Friday to gain her first victory.

It took the Austrian left-hander nearly three hours to edge through 3-6, 6-3, 6-3 in a match that featured an astonishing 42 break points and 34 deuces.

Torid affair

The battle was a torrid affair played almost entirely from the baseline, with neither player doing much more than trade groundstrokes.

But two breaks of serve at the beginning of the final set gave Bammer a 3-0 lead and set her on the way to victory.

In the semifinals, Bammer plays Peng and Sania faces Dulko.

The results:

Pattaya Open: Quarterfinals: Sybille Bammer bt Martina Sucha 3-6, 6-3, 6-3; Sania Mirza bt Mara Santangelo 6-4, 7-6(4); Peng Shuai bt Tzipora Obziler 6-3, 6-2; Gisela Dulko bt Nicole Pratt 6-2, 6-3.

Paris Indoor Open: Quarterfinals: Nadia Petrova bt Dinara Safina 6-3, 6-2. — Agencies

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

Sport