Sania Mirza in 36th spot in WTA rankings

New Delhi: Sania Mirza just about managed to retain the 36th place in the latest WTA rankings despite her early exit in last week's Dubai Open tennis tournament.

The Indian, who played with an injured right elbow, had gone down fighting in the first round to Swiss Martina Hingis, currently on a comeback trail after a long layoff. However, partnering Maria Vento-Kabchi of Venezuela, the Hyderabadi had reached the second round of the doubles in the same event. Sania has decided to give a miss to this week's Qatar Total Open, a Tier two event, to recuperate from the injury she picked during the Bangalore Open where she won the doubles title alongside Liezel Huber of South Africa. Sania will be back on the circuit for Indiana Wells hardcourt event in USA next week.

Likhovtseva, Sania Mirza agree to play Charleston tournament

CHARLESTON, S.C. - WTA Tour veteran Elena Likhovtseva and rising star Sania Mirza have agreed to play this year's Family Circle Cup, tournament officials said Monday.

They join a formidable field, including Justine Henin-Hardenne, Mary Pierce, Venus Williams and Serena Williams.

Likhovtseva will be making her ninth appearance at the Family Circle Cup, where she is a two-time quarterfinalist and captured the 1999 doubles championship with Jana Novotna.

This year will be Mirza's first appearance at the tournament.

"Our 2005 player field will feature the perfect blend of both solid veterans and rising stars," tournament director Robin Reynolds said. "This year, fans will be able to see some of the most exciting players in women's tennis today."

The Family Circle Cup will be held April 8-16 at Daniel Island.

Sania Mirza in the second round of Dubai Open

Sania Mirza, the winner of Doubles in Bangalore open, now paired with Maria VENTO-KABCHI (VEN) in the Dubai Open, marched to second round after defeating the pair M. KIRILENKO (RUS) / A. MYSKINA (RUS) 6-3, 6-4. In the second round the winning pair is scheduled to play against Daniela HANTUCHOVA (SVK) Ai SUGIYAMA (JPN) on Thursday, February 23, 2006, later at 4.30 PM. Sania is now WTA Rank 73 in doubles which is her career high ( update 20 Feb).

Sania Mirza, who has picked up an elbow injury while playing the Bangalore Open, lost to Martina Hingis, who accepted a wild card to play in Dubai, in first round in Dubai Duty Free Women’s Open, on 21 February, 2006, a Tier II event with Prize Money of $1,000,000 . The Swiss player took the first set on her fourth set point after fighting off a break point at 5-3. In the second set, she broke three times but allowed Mirza to level on each occasion before securing the win at 6-3, 7-5. “I felt I had the game under control and whenever I needed it I was able to step it up,” Hingis commented after the game.

Sania Mirza falls in round 1 at Dubai

Martina Hingis proved too strong for Sania Mirza, winning her first round match at the Dubai Open 6-3, 7-5 on Tuesday night.

The Swiss five-time Grand Slam champion, who has returned to the circuit following injuries that kept her out of international tennis for three years, won the first set in 34 minutes and despite some stubborn resistance from the 19-year-old Indian in the second was through in an hour and 28 minutes.

The 25-year-old Hingis had entered the quarter-finals of the Australian Open last month and followed up the good showing by beating Russia's Maria Sharapova in the semi-finals of the Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo.

She will take on Anastasia Myskina in the second round.

The first set was rather even early on as both players looked to size up each other. Hingis broke in the fourth game only to see the Indian, winner of the doubles title at the Bangalore Open with Liesel Huber last week, return the compliment in the next game.

But another break in the sixth took the sting out of Sania as Hingis raced to a 4-2 lead. Though Sania had a good eighth game to cut Hingis' lead to 3-5, the Swiss ace held easily in the next to take the set.

The second set was a battle of attrition as six breaks were traded between the players. Hingis broke in the opening game but was broken back in the next. But Sania lacked the consistency to sustain the pressure and was again broken in the third. Hingis then held, after Sania saved two break-points, for a 3-1 lead.

Sania Mirza takes on Martina Hingis in Dubai Women’s Open

New Delhi, February 20,2006: Sania Mirza will play former world number one and comeback queen Martina Hingis in the first round of Dubai Women’s Open 2006. Watch all the action Live and Exclusive on Zee Sports from 8.30pm on February 21, 2006.

Zee Sports, the first Indian private Sports Channel will telecast the greatest tennis extravaganza in the Middle East - The 2006 WTA Dubai Women's Open LIVE and Exclusive from February 20, 2006. Taking place at the Dubai Tennis Centre, the $1,000,000 Tier II women's event will feature the greatest line-up of stars in the history of the tournament with no less than six Grand Slam champions participating.
Source: www.indiantelevision.com

Sania Mirza and Huber win Bangalore title

Sania Mirza and doubles partner Huber from South African Liezel won the doubles title at the $175,000 WTA Bangalore Open on Sunday. Third-seeded Italian Mara Santangelo won the singles title.

"This is one of my best tournaments" said Sania Mirza. "At my age and given my ranking, my focus is on singles, but I give equal importance to doubles too. I lost early in the singles here, but I stayed and focused on the doubles. I had a great partner and here I am now."

"Sania is a good listener," said Huber. "I like taking charge in the team, and it is great when you have someone who can execute the plan you make. It just makes everything so much easier".

Third-seeded Italian Mara Santangelo overcame a stiff challenge from sixth-seeded Croatian Jelena Kostanic to win the singles title with a 3-6, 7-6 (7/5), 6-3 victory.

Sania Mirza-Liezel Huber duo enters final

Bangalore: It was a simple combination that did the trick. Sania Mirza brought in the crowds, Liezel Huber brought in the points.

What resulted was an exciting match with some wonderful volleying by Huber, plenty of errors by Sania and two bewildered women on the other side of the net, trying to keep their nerve, cool and game in the deafening din. Sania and Huber prevailed after a two hour 41 minute marathon 7-5, 6-7(6), 6-4 and entered the final of the Bangalore Open at the KSLTA Kingfisher Stadium on Saturday defeating Ukraine's Mariya Koryttseva and Israel's Shahar Peer.

The duo had earlier won a WTA title in Hyderabad in 2004.

Sania produced just half of what she is capable of, but Huber doubled up with exemplary class at the net. Some of Sania's shots were either way off the mark or found the net. But whatever she managed to keep in play, Huber smothered it to produce a winner out of nowhere, with Sania more than happy to move away and keep the court clear for a Huber winner.

Sania-Huber enter doubles semis

Bangalore Open: Sania Mirza and her South African partner Liezel Huber have moved into the semi-finals of the doubles event at the Bangalore Open.

The second-seeded pair defeated Silvija Talaja of Croatia and Martina Muller of Germany 7-6, 2-6, 6-4 in the second round.

Sania is now the only Indian left in the tournament after Isha Lakhani also crashed out of the singles.

Sania Mirza, Rushmi Chakravarthi and Ankita Bhambri have already crashed out of the singles.

The Indian challenge in the singles event came to an end when wild-card Isha Lakhani lost to Ukraine's Yuliana Fedak 3-6 3-6 in the second round.

Fedak, world No 117, played a consistent game at the centre court of the Karnataka State Lawn Tennis Association courts and outplayed the world No 480 to advance to the quarter-finals of the WTA Tier-III event.

Lakhani came back strongly after being down 0-2 in the opener and then levelled it 3-3 before running out of steam.

She played well in patches but her opponent was more aggressive and played a more powerful game forcing the Indian on the backfoot.

"It's nice playing here," Fedak said. "It was a tough match than the scoreline suggests."

Bangalore Open: Sania Mirza crashes out

Bangalore, Feb: Top seeded Sania Mirza of India today suffered a shock defeat in the second round of the USD 175,000 Bangalore Open.

The World number 38 lost to unseeded Camille Pin of France 6-1, 5-7, 2-6 at the Karnataka State Lawn Tennis Association courts here.

Sania pocketed the first set easily when everything appeared to go her way but midway through the second set, she lost her rhythm allowing her opponent, who is 110th in the world, to claw her way back.

A wrong line call that went against the Hyderbadi girl did not help matters and the French woman staged a remarkable rally and fought back from 3-5 to win the second set as she grew in confidence and put Sania on the back foot.

In the final set, the French woman played her heart out and dominated proceedings as Sania failed to raise her game.

"I enjoyed playing here. It was a good atmosphere. I am playing in India for the first time. I was focussed. Point by point, I wanted to come back," Camille said.

Meanwhile, the player who was drawn to meet Sania in the final was also eliminated as the day saw the shock defeat of second seed Shahar Peer of Israel, fresh from her Pattaya City title triumph in Thailand last week.

She lost 4-6, 2-6 to Italy's Maria Elena Camerin in the first round.

Sania Mirza advances as seeds tumble

With Martina Muller no more threatening than a gentle hitting partner, Sania Mirza almost looked bored with ease�as she got through her first round match at the USD 175,000 Bangalore Open on Tuesday.

Sania, producing a flurry of scorching groundstrokes, beat the German 6-2, 6-2 to set up a second round clash with France's Camille Pin.

The Indian is the defending champion at Bangalore, after the WTA tour event shifted here from Hyderabad.

For the second rung of women's tennis in India, it was a mixed day as Isha Lakhani stepped into the second round but Ankita Bhambri fell at the first hurdle.

Sybille Bammer of Austria and eighth seeded Emma Laine of Finland also made first round exit in Bangalore.

Lakhani, a wild card entrant, was leading 4-1 in the first set when her Slovakian unseeded rival and the world number 296 Katarina Kachlikova pulled out after aggravating an eye infection.

Third seeded Mara Santengelo of Italy secured a berth to the second round with a convincing 6-3, 6-2 win over Henrieta Nagyova (Slovakia) in the Tier-III event at the Karnataka State Lawn Tennis Association courts.

Sania stopped, Mauresmo advances

India’s no.1 woman’s singles player Sania Mirza ranked at 32 has been ousted by Tatiana Golovan of France in straight sets 6-4, 6-2 in the second round of the ongoing Gaz de France open.

The match which many considered to be a clash of the two teenage sensations turned out to be a one sided affair with Sania losing to an opponent 8 ranks higher than her in the WTA rankings.

Mirza’s weak service game was broken when Golovan was leading 5-4 in the opening set. Unperturbed the Indian tried to fight her way back into the match by breaking her opponent’s first service game of the second set.

It did seem as if Sania would be able to turn the tables, but that was not the case as Golovan won the next five games in a row and took the match out of Sania’s reach.

Mirza’s weak second serve seems to be a major deterrent on her way into the top rankings. In the fourth open draw in the US open when Sania faced Maria Sharapova the same weakness was observed.

Sania Mirza to endorse Sprite

MUMBAI: Sania Mirza has been roped in as the brand ambassador for Coca-Cola's Sprite and will feature in its new TV commercial. The commercial will go on-air from 11th February 2006.

Confirming Coca-Cola's partnership with Sania Mirza, Coca-Cola India vice president marketing Vikas Gupta said, "Sprite is a no nonsense brand - with an in- your-face and chilled out approach to life. Our communication has always exalted the brand as the thirst quencher, and baaki sab bakwaas. The current commercial retains this theme, yet interestingly incorporates Sania into the story. Like the masses we at Coca-Cola India too admire Sania not only for her game but also for her direct speak and unpretentious approach to her achievements."

Mirza added, "Honestly, Sprite has always been my favorite drink. It has stood for a refreshing youthful attitude - one that I identify with. It's got this cutting edge straightforwardness. I relate to it since it is similar to my outlook in life. Being a part of Sprite's campaign is quite exciting for me."

Deutsche Bank looks to tennis sensation Sania Mirza to win retail round

(Ecomonic Times, The (India) (KRT) Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge) Feb. 10--MUMBAI, India -- German banking major Deutsche Bank has signed on India's tennis sensation Sania Mirza to enhance its visibility in the retail segment. Roping in a sports personality as brand ambassador marks an increasing trend among banks, both foreign and private sector ones, to cash in on the popularity of sports personalities to further their brand image.

The German bank has decided on a graded structure for the tennis star. According to industry sources, the bank could well pay close to Rs 1.5-2 crore as base fees for Sania for two years. She would be eligible for bonus payments if she breaks in to the higher league. Sania is currently ranked 32nd according to the latest WTA Tour rankings.

Bank of Baroda, which went in for a image makeover last year, had roped in Indian cricket captain Rahul Dravid for three years. The bank is reported to be spending around Rs 5 crore for the three-year contract with Dravid.

Many other banks have been using Bollywood stars. ICICI Bank has in recent times roped in Shah Rukh Khan. Earlier it was Amitabh Bachchan, while Dena Bank has opted for Juhi Chawla, while Bank of Rajasthan roped in Hema Malini.

Deustche Bank's entry into retail in the country comes at a time when several banks are focusing on the fast growing retail market. The bank faces competition from some of the local private sector banks, like ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank and UTI Bank, and also from other foreign banks, like ABN Amro, Citi, HSBC and Standard Chartered. Public sector banks, like SBI and BOB, are also focusing on the retail space.

Currently, Deustche Bank has eight branches. Sources said that the bank is likely to spend around Rs 40 crore on marketing this year.

For banks like BoB roping in Dravid had given them an initial boost. In the initial one and a half months the bank was able to rope in around 12.6 lakh customers and also mobilised around Rs 650 crore in savings accounts.

Sania Mirza downs sixth seed Pennetta

Wednesday, February 08, 2006 Sania Mirza defeated No.6 seed Flavia Pennetta of Italy in the first round of the Paris Indoor Open here.

PARIS (PTI): Sania Mirza defeated No.6 seed Flavia Pennetta of Italy in the first round of the Paris Indoor Open here. Sania beat Pennetta 6-2, 7-6 (7/5). The only seed in action yesterday, Pennetta was upset by the rising Indian teen in a brilliant display of attacking tennis. Sania will play Tatiana Golovin of France, who beat Marta Domachowska of Poland.

Russian Vera Dushevina defeated Croatian qualifier Ivana Lisjak, 7-6 (7-4), 6-0 yesterday to set up a second-round encounter with top seed Amelie Mauresmo from France, who won her first Grand Slam two weeks ago at the Australian Open.
Bulgarian qualifier Tsvetana Pironkova downed Czech Lucie Safarova, 6-2, 2-6, 6-0. She next will face fourth seed Patty Schnyder of Switzerland.

Anabel Medina Garrigues of Spain outlasted Italian qualifier Tathiana Garbin, 6-3, 1-6, 7-5. Medina Garrigues awaits second-seeded Frenchwoman Mary Pierce in the second round.
Israeli Anna Smashnova dispatched French lucky loser Severine Bremond, 6-1, 6-2, to establish a second-round encounter with third-seeded Russian Nadia Petrova.

How Sania Mirza is changing Indian sport

The success of an Indian teenage tennis star is set to have a major positive effect on sport in a country which won just one medal at the last Olympics - despite being home to a billion people.

19-year-old Sania Mirza, from Hyderabad, has so far risen to be ranked 34 in the women's rankings in the sport, and has caused a stir as much by what she wears on court as her performances.

Last year she became the first Indian woman to reach the fourth round of the US Open, although she went out in the second round of the recent Australian Open.

Novy Kapadia, one of India's leading sports commentators, told BBC World Service's Sports International programme that Mirza's "phenomenal achievement" had made her into a role model in the country.

"She has the same killer approach as Steffi Graf. She's just shown that an ordinary Indian girl can achieve a lot with dedication," he said.

"Sania Mirza is also a success story because the tennis federation, to a certain extent, has been able to market her.

"We have the board of control for cricket in India are like Chelsea in England - they are way above. But there is a vacuum in Indian sport, and sports like tennis and shooting are coming up because they have been able to modernise."

'Great motivator'

Mirza's success has been inspiring for a country yet to register on the global sporting map outside of cricket and hockey. [Read More...]

Sania Mirza is a happy woman now

Sania Mirza, the 19 year old tennis sensation from Hyderabad , India, and a devout Muslim from a conservative family is now no longer under tension and media attack for her on-court dress code “ fatwa”. Dismissing the reported “fatwa “against tennis sensation Sania Mirza’s short dress on tennis court, as “rubbish” , the All India Muslim Personal Law Board, said it does not come under the purview of Muslim personal law. On February 1, AIMPLB general secretary Maulana Nizamuddin commented, “Every sports has its specific dress code and it does not come under the purview of the Muslim personal laws.” Referring to an edict issued by a Muslim cleric some time back against Mirza’s dress while playing on court, Maulana Nizamuddin explained, “Fatwas on such issues carry no meaning.”

Sania Mirza is now the highest ranked female tennis player ever from India. She has received the Padma Shri award, the fourth highest civilian award in India, in 2006. The other sport persons are Bahadur Singh (shot putter), Madhumita Bisht (badminton player), MC Mary Kom (boxer), Mohan Singh Gunjyal (adventure sports). Vijaypat Singhania (aviator), got Padma Bhushan while others got Padma Sri.