Sania Mirza is set to meet Italian 14th seed Francesca Schiavone in the second round of the $5,690,000 US Open after one of her best wins of the year.
The 19-year-old Sania, who lost in the quarter-finals at the Forest Hills US Open primer last week, beat experienced Croat Karolina Sprem 6-4, 6-2 in 75 minutes in the first round at Flushing Meadows Monday.
Steadier on her serve and more aggressive with her ground strokes, Sania got the breakthrough she was looking for in the 10th game to take the opening set 6-4. Quickly pushing home her advantage, she jumped out into a 4-1 lead to take the set 6-2 and move into the second round.
Apart from singles, Sania has entered the women's doubles event with Liezel Huber of South Africa and the mixed doubles event with Pavel Vizner of the Czech Republic.
Sania became the first Indian woman to reach the women's singles fourth round at her first US Open in 2005. She then lost to Maria Sharapova of Russia in the pre-quarterfinals in the singles, but could not go beyond the first round in the doubles.
Meanwhile, World No. 1 star Amelie Mauresmo and former top-ranked players Martina Hingis and Serena Williams also posted first round wins on Wednesday.
The reigning Wimbledon, Australian Open and WTA Championships title holder, Mauresmo needed two days to get past qualifier Kristina Barrois 6-1, 7-5.
The match was suspended because of rain on Tuesday, with Barrois leading 5-2 in the second set, but the top-seeded French star returned to the court to win five straight games, and the match, on Day 3 of the Open.
An eighth-seeded Hingis snuck past Chinese Shuai Peng 4-6, 6-1, 6-3. The five-time Grand Slam champion Hingis titled here in 1997 and was the back-to-back runner-up in 1998 and 1999.
An unseeded Williams trounced Spaniard Lourdes Dominguez Lino 6-1, 6-2 in 55 minutes. The seven-time Grand Slam title holder Serena captured the US Open in 1999 and 2002 and was the runner-up to her big sister Venus in 2001.
Thursday, August 31, 2006
Monday, August 28, 2006
Sania loses in second round
New York: Sania Mirza stretched herself against fourth seed Lourdes Dominguez Lino of Spain but still lost in her rain-interrupted singles second round match at the Forest Hill Women's Tennis Classic tournament on Friday.Sania lost 4-6, 7-5, 3-6 after resuming the play at 3-4 in the first set, which was interrupted by rains and play was suspended on Thursday.
The Indian, clinging on to 44th rank for around a month now, was brave enough to fight back into the match in the second set but ran out of steam in the decider to Lino, who is just one rank above her in the WTA charts.
Meanwhile in New Haven, Lindsay Davenport overcame a rain delay, a sore shoulder and the hard-hitting Samantha Stosur to advance to the final of the Pilot Pen tournament with a 7-6(3), 7-6(7) victory in two hours on Friday.
She will play Justine Henin-Hardenne, who advanced with a 6-3, 6-3 win over Svetlana Kuznetsova.
Sania slips down to 54th in rankings
NEW DELHI: Sania Mirza’s poor form has seen her drop out of the top-50 place in the latest WTA world rankings. The Hyderabadi teenager slipped 10 places to 54 in the rankings released on Monday.
The US-based Shikha Uberoi is the next highest ranked Indian in singles at 191, with 140.75 points. Shikha is followed by Ankita Bhambri (53.75) at the 362nd spot.
Sania sits three steps below her first round US Open opponent Karolina Sperm (51) of Croatia in the singles list.
French Amelie Mauresmo (2470) continues to lead the pack followed by Belgium's Justine Henin-Hardenne (3078). Lindsay Davenport (1530) has dropped out of the top 10, slipping to the 11th position.
The US-based Shikha Uberoi is the next highest ranked Indian in singles at 191, with 140.75 points. Shikha is followed by Ankita Bhambri (53.75) at the 362nd spot.
Sania sits three steps below her first round US Open opponent Karolina Sperm (51) of Croatia in the singles list.
French Amelie Mauresmo (2470) continues to lead the pack followed by Belgium's Justine Henin-Hardenne (3078). Lindsay Davenport (1530) has dropped out of the top 10, slipping to the 11th position.
Monday, August 21, 2006
Sania finds soul sister in Pak swimmer
COLOMBO, Aug 20: Quite content with turning out in body suits at international swimming meets, Pakistan's top female swimmer,
Rubab Raza, fired a salvo for Sania Mirza, who has had to face a barrage of criticism from Islamic clerics in India for her 'provocative dress sense.'
"Sania is not roaming around the streets in skirts for fun. She is representing her country as any other sportsperson and people should respect her for that instead of criticising her," Raza said on the sidelines of the South Asian Games' swimming competition where, on Saturday, she won bronze in the 50m freestyle.
"One should look at her game and not her clothes," the 17-year-old said. "She is justified in wearing skirts," said Rubab, who herself has had to face criticism for taking to a sport which requires exposing the body.
Unlike Sania, though, Raza and other female Pakistani swimmers found a way out a similar spot in Pakistan which doesn't allow them participating in provocative clothes unbecoming of a Muslim girl.
Raza competes in full-length skin tight swim suits as wearing a swimming costume is taboo in her country. It was in view at the 2004 Athens Olympics where she was the first Pakistani female swimmer.
At her diplomatic best, she even felt that body suits enabled them to swim faster. "I don't think it pegs us back at all. In fact I think it allows you to swim faster," she said. "It covers the whole body, fitting it like second skin.
Australia's champion swimmer Ian Thorpe, who popularised and wore it for the first time, is a standout example," she added.
"It was only after these full-length suits were introduced that we could start competing in international meets around six years ago. In fact, even back home we could not swim in the usual short swim suits."
Rubab made many heads turn when she competed in the Greek capital. "When I started, swimming was a male bastion. But becoming the first swimmer from Pakistan at Olympics was a huge step. Now Pakistani women swimmers have improved their performances further."
Rubab Raza, fired a salvo for Sania Mirza, who has had to face a barrage of criticism from Islamic clerics in India for her 'provocative dress sense.'
"Sania is not roaming around the streets in skirts for fun. She is representing her country as any other sportsperson and people should respect her for that instead of criticising her," Raza said on the sidelines of the South Asian Games' swimming competition where, on Saturday, she won bronze in the 50m freestyle.
"One should look at her game and not her clothes," the 17-year-old said. "She is justified in wearing skirts," said Rubab, who herself has had to face criticism for taking to a sport which requires exposing the body.
Unlike Sania, though, Raza and other female Pakistani swimmers found a way out a similar spot in Pakistan which doesn't allow them participating in provocative clothes unbecoming of a Muslim girl.
Raza competes in full-length skin tight swim suits as wearing a swimming costume is taboo in her country. It was in view at the 2004 Athens Olympics where she was the first Pakistani female swimmer.
At her diplomatic best, she even felt that body suits enabled them to swim faster. "I don't think it pegs us back at all. In fact I think it allows you to swim faster," she said. "It covers the whole body, fitting it like second skin.
Australia's champion swimmer Ian Thorpe, who popularised and wore it for the first time, is a standout example," she added.
"It was only after these full-length suits were introduced that we could start competing in international meets around six years ago. In fact, even back home we could not swim in the usual short swim suits."
Rubab made many heads turn when she competed in the Greek capital. "When I started, swimming was a male bastion. But becoming the first swimmer from Pakistan at Olympics was a huge step. Now Pakistani women swimmers have improved their performances further."
Tuesday, August 08, 2006
Sania-Huber crash out
NEW DELHI: Sania Mirza, partnering South Africa's Liezel Huber, crashed out of doubles at the J P Morgan Chase Open women's tennis event in Los Angeles after a first round loss to Ana Ivanovic of Serbia and Russia's Maria Kirilenko in straight sets on Tuesday.
Sania and Huber lost 7-6 (2) 6-2 to the wild card entrants of the USD 600,000 Tier II event on the WTA Tour.
The 19-year old Indian had a enjoyed series of good results in doubles recently that included a final appearance in Cincinnati Open and also made it to the quarterfinal of Acura Classic last week.
Sania will take on Jelena Jankovic, World no. 29, of Serbia and Montenegro in the singles first round later on Tuesday.
Sania and Huber lost 7-6 (2) 6-2 to the wild card entrants of the USD 600,000 Tier II event on the WTA Tour.
The 19-year old Indian had a enjoyed series of good results in doubles recently that included a final appearance in Cincinnati Open and also made it to the quarterfinal of Acura Classic last week.
Sania will take on Jelena Jankovic, World no. 29, of Serbia and Montenegro in the singles first round later on Tuesday.
Saturday, August 05, 2006
Sania loses in doubles quarters
New Delhi, Aug 05: Sania Mirza and her South African partner Liezel Huber crashed out of the doubles competition at the WTA Acura Classic after losing to German Anna-Lena Groenefeld and USA's Meghann Shaughnessy in the quarterfinal.
Sania and Liezel, seeded eighth at the event, went down in straight sets 6-2 7-5 against the fourth seeded German-American pair.
Groenefeld and Shaughnessy will now face top seeds American Lisa Raymond and Samantha Stosur of Australia for a place in the final of the San Diego Hardcourt tournament.
The victors, who had a bye in the first round and had an easy second round victory, kept up their form to wrap up the first set in convincing fashion.
However, Sania and Huber gave their more fancied opponents a tough run in the second set before faltering at the end.
Sania and Liezel, seeded eighth at the event, went down in straight sets 6-2 7-5 against the fourth seeded German-American pair.
Groenefeld and Shaughnessy will now face top seeds American Lisa Raymond and Samantha Stosur of Australia for a place in the final of the San Diego Hardcourt tournament.
The victors, who had a bye in the first round and had an easy second round victory, kept up their form to wrap up the first set in convincing fashion.
However, Sania and Huber gave their more fancied opponents a tough run in the second set before faltering at the end.
Wednesday, August 02, 2006
Sania upsets former world No 11
NEW DELHI: Sania Mirza showed signs of her fine form with a straight-set victory over former world no. 11 Meghan Shaunessy in the first round of the USD 1.3 million Acura Classic WTA Tour event in San Diego, California.Sania, whose ranking has slipped to 44, posted a crisp 6-3, 6-1 over Shaugnessy, who has four career titles to her credit, to sail into the second round of the US hard court event on Tuesday.
The 19-year old Indian next plays Katarina Srebotnik of Slovakia in the second round later on Wednesday.
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