The Hindu : Sport / Tennis : Sania ousts Hingis on a day of upsets

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Thursday, Aug 09, 2007
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Sania ousts Hingis on a day of upsets

TENNIS / Bhupathi-Vizner duo in last eight

— Photo: AP

ANOTHER BIG WIN: Sania Mirza kept her recent great run going by taking out Martina Hingis in the East West Bank Classic tennis tournament on Tuesday.

CARSON: Sania Mirza capped a bad day for high seeds in the EastWest Bank Classic by knocking out No. 7 Martina Hingis, 6-2, 2-6, 6-4 in a second-round match on Tuesday.

Hingis’s departure followed earlier second-round losses on Tuesday. Marion Bartoli, at No. 6 the highest seed to have played, and No. 8 Dinara Safina were also ushered out.

“You can’t let a player like her run away in the first set like that,” said Hingis, still bothered by hip and back injuries sustained earlier this season. She said she was tired in the third set while Mirza got fresher.

Even so, Hingis rallied from a 40-0 deficit to get to deuce on Mirza’s serve in the final game. But Mirza, 20, took advantage of her fourth match point.

“She just went for broke on all the match points,” said Mirza, ranked a career-high No. 30. “She made two big forehands, then went for a third one and just missed.”

Not an easy job

Mirza, who had knee surgery earlier in the year, turned a 2-3 deficit in the final set into a 5-3 lead. “You’re playing Martina Hingis. You can’t expect to roll through 6-0 in the third set,” Mirza said.

“She was all hungry out there and so am I, but she just seems fresher,” Hingis told reporters. “She hits incredible angles with her forehand.”

After four straight weeks of play, Mirza said she was tired but had learned how to push through the matches.

“To beat one of the quickest players on the tour and to have to dig deep to do it, that feels great,” she said. “It tells me that I can do it again.”

Elena Dementieva opened her defence of the title with a 6-3, 6-1 victory over Ekaterina Makarova.

Dementieva came into this event after reaching the semifinals last week at the Acura Classic. The 25-year-old Russian is seeded only ninth because a nine-week layoff due to a right rib stress fracture dropped her out of the top 10 in the WTA Tour rankings.

Meanwhile at the Rogers Cup in Montreal, eighth seeds Mahesh Bhupathi and Pavel Vizner sailed past Fernando Gonzalez and Ivan Ljubicic 6-4, 6-2 to enter the quarterfinals.

Fourth seeds Leander Paes and Martin Damm got a bye in the opening round of the event.

Impressive beginning

In singles play, third seed Novak Djokovic opened his title bid with an impressive 6-3, 6-3 win over Germany’s Nicolas Kiefer in the second round. Andy Murray, the 13th seed was upset 6-2, 6-2 by Italian Fabio Fognini while Lleyton Hewitt advanced after his much-anticipated showdown with James Blake became a non-starter after the American withdrew with a stomach ailment.

The results: At Carson: WTA East West Bank Classic: Second round: Sania Mirza bt Martina Hingis 6-2, 2-6, 6-4; Kataryna Bondarenko bt Dinara Safina 6-2, 7-5; Michaella Krajicek bt Yuliana Fedak 6-4, 6-3; Maria Kirile nko bt Marion Bartoli 7-6(2), 6-3; Gisela Dulko bt Tamarine Tanasugarn 6-1, 6-3.

First round: Shahar Peer bt Dominika Cibulkova 6-2, 6-3; Victoria Azarenka bt Alberta Brianti 6-3, 6-3; Peng Shuai bt Yaroslava Shvedova 6-3, 6-4; Elena Dementieva bt Ekaterina Makarova 6-3, 6-1.

Katarina Srebotnik bt Bethanie Mattek 6-4, 7-5; Mara Santangelo bt Anastasia Rodionova 6-1, 7-6(3); Ai Sugiyama bt Camille Pin 5-7, 6-3, 6-3; Lilia Osterloh bt Aicia Molik 6-2, 6-4; Eleni Daniilidou bt Aravane Rezai 3-6, 6-2, 6-1; Meghann Shaughnessy bt Vania King 6-2, 6-4.

At Montreal: ATP Rogers Cup: Second round: Novak Djokovic bt Nicolas Kiefer 6-3, 6-3; Radek Stepanek bt Fernando Gonzalez 6-7(2), 7-6(1), 6-4. Fabio Fognini bt Andy Murray 6-2, 6-2; Mikhail Youzhny bt Stanislas Wawrinka 6-4, 6-4; Fernando Verdasco bt Richard Gasquet 3-6, 7-6(7), 6-4; Lleyton Hewitt w/o James Blake.

First round: James Blake bt Jurgen Melzer 7-5, 7-6(4); Tommy Haas bt Agustin Calleri 6-3, 7-6(6); Andy Murray bt Robby Ginepri 6-4, 6-4; Jarkko Nieminen bt Julien Benneteau 6-3, 6-4; Marat Safin bt Robin Soderling 1-2, retd. Ivo Karlov ic bt Max Mirnyi 4-6, 6-4, 7-6(3); Fernando Verdasco bt Juan Chela 3-6, 6-1, 6-3; Marcos Baghdatis bt Carlos Moya 7-6(7), 6-1; Mario Ancic bt Frederic Niemeyer 6-4, 6-2. — Agencies

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