Sania Crashes Out Of French Open Singles

Sania Mirza's joy of going beyond the first round in the women's singles at the French Open for the first time was short-lived as she was sent packing by Ana Ivanovic at the Roland Garros on Thursday.

The seventh seeded Serbian needed an hour and four minutes to beat the 20-year-old Indian ace 6-1, 6-4 in a second round match on court No 1.

It was an easy victory for Ivanovic once she broke Sania in the second game of the first set.

Another break in the sixth game sufficed to give the Serbian the set.

Games went with serve till the eighth game in the second set, but Ivanovic changed tactics in the ninth and repeatedly used both flanks as she had done in the first set and made the Indian run from end to end. She broke and then held serve in the tenth to wrap the match.

Ivanovic's serve was a revelation and Sania never came close to threatening it. The 19-year-old Serbian dished out seven aces and converted three of the five break-points she forced to underline her authority.

Sania had beaten Alberta Brianti of Italy in the first round on Wednesday and advanced for the first time after two unsuccessful attempts.

She will team up with Frenchman Fabrice Santoro for the doubles competition.

But there was something to cheer about for Indian fans as Leander Paes and Martin Damm of the Czech Republic quelled the challenge of local hopes Jeremy Chardy and Jonathan Eysseric 7-6 (4), 7-6 (2) to advance into the second round of the men's doubles earlier.

French Open : Sania Storms Into Second Round

Sania Mirza broke her French Open drought with a crushing victory over Alberta Brianti of Italy in the first round at Roland Garros on Wednesday.

The Indian ace, who had never gone beyond the first round in two previous attempts, peppered the 87-ranked Italian with her hard-hitting groundstrokes to score a 6-1, 6-1 victory in under an hour.

Sania returned to the tour last month after a two-and-a-half month injury lay-off and failed to go past the first round in singles in both her warm-up events, in Morocco and Istanbul.

On Wednesday, she didn't let the Parisian clay demoralise her. She served well and once she had taken a 3-0 lead in the first set, she maintained the momentum and never let up the pressure from her forehands against an error-prone opponent.

But the real test awaits the 20-year-old when she clashes with number seven seed Ana Ivanovic of Serbia in the second round.

Ivanovic, who made it to the quarter-final in 2005, beat Sofia Arvidsson of Sweden 6-2, 6-0 in her first round match.

Sania, Yung-Jan Falter At Istanbul Final

Top seeds Sania Mirza and her partner Yung-Jan Chan of Taiwan were upset by an unseeded Polish pair in the doubles final of the USD 200,000 Istanbul Cup Women`s Tennis Tournament in Turkey on Saturday

Sania and Yung-Jan`s 1-6 3-6 loss to Agnieszka Radwanska and Urszula Radwanska crushed the Indian star`s hopes of back-to-back WTA doubles titles.

Sania had bagged her fourth WTA doubles crown at the Morocco Open at Fes, Morocco, partnering Vania King of America last week.

The Indo-Taiwanese combination were dominated by the Radwanskas in the first set right from the beginning and lost tamely.

Radwanskas broke their opponents in the sixth and eighth games of the second set to seal the matter in their own favour.

Sania will next play in the French Open, the second grand slam of the season, beginning tomorrow.

Sania-Chan Sail Into Doubles Semi-finals Of Istanbul Cup

Top seeds Sania Mirza and Chan Yung Jan of Chinese Taipei came from behind to prevail over Sandra Kloesel and Anna Koumantou 2-6, 6-2, 10-7 and storm into doubles semi-finals of Istanbul Cup here today.

The Indo-Taipei pair began on an erratic note and failed to hold serves to concede the first set 2-6 but bounced back strongly in the second set, winning five games on the trot en-route to taking the set 6-1.

Not throwing in the towel easily, the Greco-German pair, however, had preserved their best for the decider and both sides fought tooth and nail for every point. But, Sania and Chan held their nerves to finally come out victorious 10-7 in the super tie-breaker to take the set and the match.

Sania had earlier crashed out of the singles competition, losing to Meghann Shaughnessy of USA 4-6, 3-6 in the first round.

Sania-Vania Pair In Morocco Open Final

Sania Mirza is just a step away from winning her first WTA title this year. The Indian ace and her American partner Vania King were handed a walkover that enabled them enter the doubles final at the Morocco Open in Fes.

The top-seeded Sania-Vania pair will take on second seeds Andreea Ehritt-Vanc (Romania) and Anastasia Rodionova (Russia) in the final.

Sania and Vania were supposed to face off against Camille Pin and Milagros Sequera but the semi-final match could not take place as the French-Venezuelan pair pulled out complaining of illness.

"Vania and I were supposed to play against Sequera and Pin, but after they played their singles quarter-finals they were both very sick. I think the heat really got to them; hopefully they're better soon," Sania said.

The Indian ace, who is out of the singles competition following a shock first-round defeat, said she is expecting a tough final against the experienced second seeded duo because of the hot conditions.

"It'll be pretty hot and dry at that time, which will be tough. I've never played Andreea; I've played Anastasia a few times but she wasn't with the same partner. They are both very experienced players though and have both been around a long time," she said.

"They've also been playing together a lot this year, whereas Vani and I are playing for the first time; so it should be interesting. We'll just have to play our game and not worry about them. I'm just very excited," she added.

Sania Mirza to make tour return in Morocco

Sania Mirza will make her return to the WTA tour at an event in Morocco next week after being sidelined for more than two months with an injury.

Mirza underwent surgery in March after she suffered a ligament injury in her right knee at the Qatar Open.

"Clay is the best surface for me to start playing again after the knee injury," the 20-year-old told Indian news agency PTI prior to her departure for Morocco on Sunday.

Mirza became her country's favourite sporting pin-up after she became the first Indian to claim a WTA title and crack the top-50 in the rankings.

Currently ranked 49, Mirza is also expected to play in the Istanbul Cup which begins on May 21 in the run-up to the French Open at the end of the month.

Clay best surface to make my comeback: Sania Miriza

Sania Mirza believes that clay, although not her favourite surface will be the ideal platform forher to make a comeback after a knee injury.

"Clay is the best surface for me to start playing again after the knee injury. That is what my trainer Heath Matthews also feels," Sania said.

The 20-year-old left last night for Morocco where she will mark her return to action at a $145,000 WTA Tour event after a gap of over 2 months.

The Hyderabadi girl suffered a ligament injury while playing in the Qatar Open in Doha in February end.

Sania felt that sliding on the slippery dirt posed less danger for her ligaments than twisting and turning on the hard courts.

This is the third season in succession that injury has disrupted her schedule, and invariably it has coincided with the clay court season.

While the intense rehabilitation had helped her to go into the US hard court season at her best, Sania has not been able to make an impact at the French Open.

But Sania was pragmatic about it.

"That's true but injuries are part and parcel of every sportsperson's life," said Sania, who did fitness training and tennis practice for the last fortnight in her hometown.

After Morocco, Sania will be playing in Istanbul, a $200,000 event leading into Roland Garros.

After the clay court Grand Slam, she will be playing in Birmingham and Holland before entering Wimbledon.

Sania is yet to find a doubles partner for these events.