Sania Mirza Upsets Shahar Peer At Acura Classic

Sania Mirza pulled off an impressive 6-3, 4-6, 6-2 win over 12th seed and doubles partner Shahar Peer of Israel to advance to the second round of the USD 13,40,000 WTA Acura Classic here.

Sania, who finished runner-up at last week's Bank of Western Classic in Stanford, will now take on Greek Eleni Daniilidou at the event which would be eliminated from next year's WTA calendar.

In a two-hour-three-minute contest where momentun kept swinging back and forth, both Sania and Peer pounded heavy ground strokes from the baseline to make it an exciting match for the sizeable crowd at the Stadium Court.

Sania used her strong forehand to set up winning points and kept Peer under pressure with her service returns. There were a combined 15 service breaks in the match.

After splitting the first two sets, Sania opened the final set by holding serve and breaking Peer to take a 4-1 lead.

Stanford Classic: Chakvetadze Beats Sania

Top-seeded Russian Anna Chakvetadze cruised past India's Sania Mirza 6-3, 6-2 here on Sunday to capture her second WTA Tour title in as many weeks.

Chakvetadze had earned a three-set victory against Mirza in the semi-finals en route to the title at Cincinnati last week, and Mirza was unable to improve on that result in this $600,000 hardcourt tournament.

Chakvetadze, ranked eighth in the world, claimed her sixth career title and fourth title of the season, after triumphs at Cincinnati, Hobart and 's-Hertogenbosch.

Prior to Cincinnati, she won one of her two singles matches to help Russia top the United States in the semi-finals of the Fed Cup in Vermont.

"I have to play only on hard courts in the United States," she said. "I still had some trouble in the first set with my serve. After this kind of thing I concentrated more on every point."

Mirza, playing in her first Tier II final, had upset three seeded opponents en route to the final, ousting No. 4 Patty Schnyder, No. 6 Tatiana Golovin and No. 8 Sybille Bammer.

Her wins over Golovin and Schnyder were her first over top-20 opponents in a 2007 season that has been disrupted by a knee injury that required surgery in March and sidelined her for more than two months.

"After I lost the first set she dominated," Mirza said. "She comes up with her best in the finals. I wasn't feeling it as well as I have. I was getting tentative and hoping she'd make mistakes."

"I didn't hit the ball as cleanly as I did the whole week." But Chakvetadze said she thought Mirza was stronger than she was a week earlier.

"She had a great week," Chakvetadze said. "Compared to our match in Cincinnati, even when we went three sets, here was a better match. I told myself I'm not feeling that great to run for three sets so I had to finish it fast."

Sania Mirza Stuns Bammer To Reach Stanford Final

Sania Mirza upset eighth seed Sybille Bammer 6-2 5-7 6-3 to reach the final of the Stanford Classic on Saturday.

The unseeded 20-year-old, whose only Tour title came in Hyderabad in 2005, outfought the Austrian under the hot sun in two hours and 14 minutes.

While the left-handed Bammer did a good job hooking her forehand into Sania's backhand and punishing her second serve, the Sania was the more ambitious and complete player on the day.

Sania Mirza won the match when she ripped a forehand crosscourt winner on her fourth match point.

Sania Mirza will face the winner of the semi-final between top seed Anna Chakvetadze of Russia and third seed Daniela Hantuchova of Slovakia.

Sania Mirza Ousts Schnyder To Reach Stanford Semi-Finals

Unseeded Sania Mirza punched her semi-final ticket at this US Open tuneup Friday with a straight-set victory over fourth-seeded Patty Schnyder.

Mirza downed her Swiss opponent 7-6 (7/2), 6-1 for her second straight upset this week. She bounced sixth-seeded Tatiana Golovin of France in the second round. Mirza’s victory over world number 19 Golovin was her first over a top-20 player since she was sidelined by a knee injury in March. Now she is aiming to add to her one WTA Tour title, which she won at Hyderabad in 2005. Top-seeded Russian Anna Chakvetadze booked her semi-final place, rallying the defeat seventh-seeded Katarina Srebotnik of Slovenia 4-6, 6-2, 6-2.

Chakvetadze has now won seven consecutive hardcourt matches and is in position to capture her second singles title in as many weeks. “The first set I was really up and down,” said Chakvetadze, who won in Cincinnati last week. “I felt like if I could hold my serve I could turn it around. I started playing more aggressively. “Katarina was a little more aggressive than me in the first set. She made me run all over the court. In the second set I started serving well and returning better. “I still think my game is up and down,” she added.

Sania-Peer In Last 8

Third seeds Sania Mirza and Shahar Peer survived a scare from Tatiana Poutchek and Anastasia Rodionova to advance to the doubles quarter-finals of the $ 600,000 Bank of West Classic tournament here yesterday.

The Indo-Israeli pair came through 6-1, 0-6, 11-9 in over an hour against the unseeded Belarussian-Russian duo at the WTA Tour hard court event.
Sania and Peer will now be up against the Uzbek-German team of Akgul Amanmuradova and Angalika Bachmann.

Sania, who is aiming for a second successive doubles title after her triumph in Cincinnati with Bethanie Mattek last week, and Peer failed to convert two breakpoints in the third set which saw them being broken thrice. But, Sania and Peer got their act together in the super-tiebreaker to advance to the quarter-finals.

Sania Shocks Golovin To Enter Quarter-Final Of Stanford Classic

Sania Mirza into the quarter-finals of the Stanford Classic, scoring an upset 6-4, 6-1 victory over French sixth seed Tatiana Golovin Thursday.

The victory set up a quarter-final showdown with fourth seed Patty Schnyder of Switzerland, who registered a 7-5 6-2 win against Russian qualifier Yaroslava Shvedova.

Mirza tore apart Golovin, whom she had lost to in their two previous meetings, completely dictating play with her huge forehand.

The 20-year-old Indian served efficiently, ate up the Frenchwoman's second serves and won the match when she blitzed a forehand winner crosscourt.

"She said to me, 'can you hit it any harder?'" the world number 35 added with a laugh.

"She's one of my closest friends on tour and it's never easy to play a friend.

"I wanted to dictate as I have had trouble with her in the past because she retrieves so well. But I made sure I was aggressive as soon as I got on court."

Sania's doubles partner Israeli Shahar however failed to progress. The fifth seed was beaten by Belarusian qualifier Olga Govortsova 4-6, 7-5, 6-2.

Govortsova has risen quickly up the rankings, qualifying for Wimbledon and reaching the quarter-finals of Cincinnati last week with her aggressive play.

After starting the year ranked 334th in the world, the 18-year-old began the tournament at number 100 but is now assured of a place in the top 70 after reaching the last eight.

The tall baseliner needed two and half hours to overcome Peer, finally wearing down her Israeli opponent with booming shots into the corners.

"I know her and know what she does good and bad," Govortsova told reporters.

"In the last two sets, I hit more winners. I have more experience and I'm not making as many mistakes as I used to."

Govortsova said that Peer had beaten her thrice as a junior but the Israeli was less consistent this time.

"I'm not playing up to my ability," Peer said. "I'm not playing my game. When I'm running to balls I'm not getting there on time and I'm hitting too short."

Sania-Peer In Quarter-Finals At Stanford

Third seeds Sania Mirza and Shahar Peer survived a scare from Tatiana Poutchek and Anastasia Rodionova before advancing to the doubles quarter-finals of the US $600,000 Bank of West Classic tournament in Stanford.

The Indo-Israeli pair beat the unseeded Belarussian-Russian duo 6-1, 0-6, 11-9 in over an hour at the WTA Tour hard court tournament on Wednesday.

Sania and Peer will meet the Uzbek-German team of Akgul Amanmuradova and Angalika Bachmann.

Sania, who is aiming for a second successive doubles title after her triumph in Cincinatti with Bethanie Mattek last week, and Peer failed to convert two breakpoints in the third set which saw them being broken thrice.

But they got their act together in the super tie-breaker to advance to the quarters.

Sania Cruises Into Round 2 At Stanford

Sania Mirza rallied to defeat Japan's Akiko Morigami 4-6, 7-5, 7-6 (7/5) here on Tuesday and reached the second round of a $600,000 WTA hardcourt tournament.

Mirza booked a date at the US Open tune-up event against French sixth seed Tatiana Golovin, who defeated Ukraine qualifier Viktoriya Kutuzova 6-2, 6-2.

Austrian eighth seed Sybille Bammer advanced with a 6-4, 6-2 triumph over Japan's Ai Sugiyama. Bammer booked a second-round date with American Meilen Tu.

Russian qualifier Yaroslava Shvedova rallied to eliminate Ukraine's Julia Vakulenko 3-6, 6-3, 6-2, setting up a second-round match with Swiss fourth seed Patty Schnyder.

Israeli fifth seed Shahar Peer lost five of the first six games but rallied to defeat France's Camile Pin 7-6 (7/5), 6-2. Peer plays Belarus qualifier Olga Govortsova next.

Sania's World Rank 35 In The Latest WTA List

Sania Mirza's fine run at Cincinnati propelled her three places up to 35th in the WTA's latest singles rankings issued on Monday.

The Indian star made her first semifinal appearance at Cincinnati but went down fighting against top seed Anna Chakvetadze of Russia, who moved one place up to be at seventh spot after her title win.

Besides, Chakvetadze swapping place with Serena Williams, there was no other movement in the top-10 rankings.

In the doubles rankings, Sania gained two places to climb to 36th on the WTA computer after winning the title with her American partner Bethanie Mattek at the same event on Sunday.

Sania will next play in USD 600,000 Tier II WTA event at Stanford, USA, beginning Monday.

Sania-Bethanie Win The Cincinnati Doubles

Sania Mirza and Bethanie Mattek lived up to their top billing to clinch the doubles title after a nail-biting final at the USD 175,000 Cincinnati Open tennis tournament on Sunday.

Sania and her American partner defeated Russian Alina Jidkova and Tatiana Poutchek of Belarus 7-6(4), 7-5 to romp home at the WTA Tier III event.

For Sania, it was her second Tour doubles title this year and overall fifth while Mattek won her second WTA title.

The two teams stayed close throughout the match, except for a small 3-1 second set lead for Jidkova and Poutchek, who could not stretch it further.

Sania said she was satisfied with her performance and gave the credit of the win to team effort.

"We played better matches this week, but we're still happy to win. I have to get along with somebody off the court to play with them; Bethanie and I are a good team," she said.

Mattek echoing her views also praised Sania for her forehand shots.

"We are a really good mixture. We're both solid on the baseline and Sania has a good forehand, so it opens up the court. Same with our serves," the American said.

Sania Loses In Cincinnati Semi Final

Sania Mirza down fighting against world number eight and top seed Anna Chakvetadze in the singles semifinal of the $175,000 Cincinnati Open tennis tournament.

The Indian star, seeded third, pushed her more fancied Russian opponent to the limit but lost 2-6, 7-5, 3-6 at the WTA Tier III event.

Sania, who played her fourth three-setter in as many matches, tried hard to keep herself in contention by pulling off the second set but Chakvetadze came back stronger to race out to a 4-0 lead in the decider.

Making her first semi-final appearance after quarter-final exits at each of the last two editions of the tournament, Sania confessed that she ran out of steam towards the end.

"She played a great match; she's a tricky player to play. After the second set, I was mentally drained after playing so many close points. I think my level dropped a bit and hers raised and when you are playing the Top 10 you can't afford to do that," she said.

Chakvetadze, who fought back from 4-1 down in the second set only to get pushed to a third, said Sania did not play well.

"It was really up and down on both sides. In the first set she didn't play very well, making a lot of mistakes. In the third, she was more relaxed because she was down 5-0. But overall, it was a good match."

Cincinnati Open: Sania Sails Into Semis Of Singles & Doubles

Top seeds Sania Mirza and American Bethanie Mattek hardly broke a sweat as they trounced Lilia Osterloh and Anastasia Rodionova in straight sets to breeze into the doubles semi-finals of the $175,000 Cincinnati Open.

Sania and Bethanie took little over an hour to quell the US-Russian pair 6-2, 6-3 in the quarter-final match.

The Indo-American pair will next face the winner of the match between Liga Dekmeijere-Ipek Senoglu and Akgul Amanmuradova-Varvara Lepchenko pairs.

Sania and Bethanie were in control right from the beginning as they held their serve, besides breaking the US-Russian pair twice, to clinch the opening set.

The second set followed a similar script as Sania and Bethanie continued their dominance, breaking Lilia and Anastasia thrice to seal matter in their favour.

Meanwhile, the Indian tennis sensation continued her winning streak in the singles quarter-final match too. Sania beat Olga Govortsova of Belarus 6-1, 6-1 in straight sets to book her first-ever singles semi-final berth at Cincinnati Open on Friday.

Third-seeded Mirza needed just 51 minutes to eliminate Govortsova. The Hyderabad girl will next face world number eight and top-seeded Anna Chakvetadze of Russia in the semis. Sania said the win had given her much-needed confidence ahead of the challenging semi-final.

"You want to win at any stage of the tournament, but it (the score 6-1, 6-1) does give you extra confidence. You're in the quarterfinals, so you're playing the best eight, and you get an easy win," the 20-year-old said.

Chavetadze advanced to the semi-finals after her opponent compatriot Elena Vesnina, seeded sixth, retired with a right shoulder strain. Vesnina was trailing 6-7 (3/7), 6-0, 4-1 when she conceded the match.

Chakvetadze had defeated Mirza 6-4, 6-1 in Hobart, Australia in their only career meeting earlier this year.

Sania, Bethanie In Quarter Final

Top seeds Sania Mirza and Bethanie Mettack cruised into the quarter-finals of $175,000 Cincinnati Open after a straight set win over the Colombian-Chinese pair of Catalina Castano and Meng Yuan.

The Indo-American pair overwhelmed their unseeded rivals 6-4, 6-0 in a first round match of the Tier 3 hard court tournament here yesterday. Sania and Bethanie were broken just once in the near hour-long contest.

In the next round, the duo will take on either wild cards Kirsten Flower (The USA) and Connie Hsu (China), or Lilia Osterloh (The USA) and Anastasia Rodionova (Russia). Sania, teaming up with Poland’s Marta Domachowska, finished runner-up here last year.

The 20-year-old Indian had earlier entered the second round of singles, where she will be up against Varvara Lepchenko.

Sania To Begin Hardcourt Season In Cincinnati

After reaching the second round at Wimbledon, Sania Mirza will open her North American hardcourt season campaign at the Western & Southern Financial Group Women's Open in Cincinnati.

The 38-ranked Mirza will be part of a field, which includes rising Russian star Anna Chakvetadze and Swiss girl Patty Schnyder, who won the singles title in 2005.

The Tier III tournament with a prize money of USD 175,000, starts on July 16, but the qualifying matches begin two days earlier. Four spots will be determined by the qualifying tournament.

The matches in the main draw will be held at the Lindner Family Tennis Center in Mason, Ohio.

Ranked eight, Chakvetadze is the highst ranked player to have committed to the tournament so far. Schnyder, ranked 16th is the other top-20 player featuring in the tournament.

Sania defeated Russian Yroslava Shvedova in the first round at the All England Club before going down to 11th seed Nadia Petrova in the next round.

Not Easy To Be Back After A Break: Sania Mirza

Sania Mirza’s early round losses in the last two Grand Slams — the French Open and Wimbledon — might be of some concern to her fans. But, the 20-year-old tennis star is not too worried.

“Especially considering that I am back in the circuit after a three-month long break from an injury which nearly threatened to decapacitate me,” Sania said in an exclusive chat a day before leaving for the hard-court season in the United States. “For any sportsperson it is not easy to be back after a forced break and keep winning, and that too when one often runs into a top 10 player,” Sania said after a long training session with hitting partner Narendranath at the SAAP tennis complex here.

“Ups and downs are an integral part of any career,” she stressed. “I remember how frustrating it was to read all those reports when people had written me off, especially after the injury. And see I am now World No. 38 despite the break and the early round losses,” Sania said.

Sania said, “I will be continuing with Gabriel Urpi right through the hard-court season. I am happy with the way he has been doing the job. He did point out some areas for improvement and we are working on them.”

“I feel I am hitting the ball better than I was before the injury. My confidence is high. It is just a question of winning a couple of big matches now,” she said. “The injury break was the most difficult phase of my life. It was terrible to be on a wheel chair when you had to be there on the court. Losing a tennis match is much smaller compared to the agony of being hospitalised,” she said.

Over the next two months, Sania will play at Cincinnatti, Stanford, San Diego, Los Angeles, Toronto Open, Forest Hills or New Haven and the U.S. Open from August 27.

“As far as doubles is concerned, we have to choose the partner according to our convenience. It should basically suit our singles schedule,” said Imran Mirza, Sania’s father.

Sania Doesn't Need To Stick To One Coach: Mahesh Bhupathi

Indian tennis ace Sania Mirza doesn't need to stick to one coach for a long time, said Mahesh Bhupathi, whose company manages her.

"I don't think she needs to stick to any coach for a long time. There is absolutely no problem in changing coaches," said Bhupathi Wednesday on the sidelines of a press conference at which he announced his Bangalore based company Globosport's tie-up with real estate major Ansal Properties.

Sania has changed coaches at will ever since she reached the third round at the 2005 Australian Open in her debut year as a professional.

From S. Narendranath to John Farrington and Tony Roche, none had a long stint with her. She now has Spaniard Gabriel Urpi, who also coached former Grand Slam winner Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario of Spain, as the travelling coach and Mustafa Ghouse as her hitting partner.

Bhupathi said Sania shaould be given more time as she had done well this year.

"She is just 20 and has a long way to go. This year so far she has done incredibly well by moving from 76th to 38th in the singles rankings," he said.

Bhupathi also said once he and his erstwhile partner Leander Paes retire, there won't be a vacuum in Indian tennis and Sania would be the apt successor, albeit in the women's event.

"I think even after we retire, Sania will still keep the Indian flag flying," he said.

Sania Moves Up Six Places To 38th

India's Sania Mirza moved up six places in the women's world rankings list to the 38th spot despite her second round exit from Wimbledon, according to a Women's Tennis Association (WTA) released on Monday.

Sania, who lost to Russian Nadia Petrova in the women's singles event, is also ranked 38th in the doubles.

Among the other Indian women, Sunitha Rao moved up a spot to 264th while Shikha Uberoi went down 39 places to languish at 326th.

In the men's section, Indian ace Leander Paes moved up one place to ninth in the doubles rankings while his Czech partner Martin Damm also moved up a spot to eighth.

Mahesh Bhupathi, however, was down one place to 21st.

Sania Mirza Is Definitely A Top-10 Material - Vijay Amritraj

Indian tennis legend Vijay Amrirtraj, applauding the progress Sania Mirza has made in her play, said she has the potential to make the world's top-10, if guided properly.

"You can see she is maturing mentally," Vijay said. "Our players mature mentally first and then physically, unlike the westerners for whom it is the reverse. For our players, their best years are 24 onwards. Look at Rafael Nadal, given the way he plays, I would be surprised if he goes beyond 26 or 27 years of age."

The former Indian Davis Cup captain, who has worn many hats internationally with his charity work and business commitments, added that he no long considers movement a weakness in Sania's game. "She has put in a lot of work there.

It is obvious in a match situation," Vijay said. "She is clearly able to hold her own now. There are a lot of players in the top ten, who are not great athletes — Vaidisova, Petrova, even Sharapova. Sania has made significant strides here."

"What I would tell her or any of the younger players is to gamble the losses. At the end of your career, nobody remembers if you lost in the second round in Bali, they remember if you won that exciting quarterfinal at Wimbledon or the other majors."

Vijay urged young players to do whatever it takes, including taking time off from the tour, to correct technical flaws in their game. "I always quote the example of Mats Wilander who in 1987 went off the tour for a while to add the sliced backhand to his double-handed shot. He came back and became the world No 1," Vijay said.

"You shouldn't be worrying about results," the LA-based star said. "The question is are you a better player today than you were yesterday? That is the only question you need to ask yourself."

"There are a lot of areas in Sania's game that needs to be worked on," Vijay said. "The good thing is she has age on her side, she has the desire, the work ethic and an explosive game from the back of the court, if she is guided properly, in my opinion she is definitely a top 10 player. She has the required raw material."

Wimbledon: Bhupathi-Sania Out

Mahesh Bhupathi and Sania Mirza went down tamely in the second round of the mixed doubles at Wimbledon on Thursday.

The Indian pair was beaten by ninth seeds Marcin Matkowski of Poland and Cara Black of Zimbabwe 6-4, 6-4.

The defeat ended both Sania and Bhupathi's campaign in the grass court Grand Slam.

In the first round, Bhupathi and Sania got the better of David Skoch of Czech Republic and Janette Husarova of Slovakia, winning 6-3, 6-4.

Sania had earlier bowed out of the singles and doubles, while Bhupathi, winner of ten Grand Slams, only played mixed doubles after withdrawing from the men's doubles.

Sania Ousted In Doubles

India's Sania Mirza and Israeli Shahar Peer crashed out in the third round of the women's doubles at the Wimbledon tennis championship here Wednesday.

Sania Mirza and Shahar Peer's controversial campaign at Wimbledon was brought to a halt by top seeds Lisa Raymond of the United States and Australia's Samantha Stosur in the third round of the women's doubles on Thursday.

The Indo-Israeli pair, seeded 16th, went down 6-0, 6-7 (4), 6-1 in an hour and 25 minutes.

Raymond-Stosur played the first set with rehearsed finesse, outplaying their opponents and making them look like blundering novices. It looked like a cakewalk for them, when, having wrapped up the first set in 15 minutes, they served for the match at 5-4 and again at 6-5 in the second set.

But the Sania-Peer battled back to force the set into a tie-break and win it 7-4.

The Indo-Israeli pair's attacking play, which has seen both the girls rise rapidly in the singles ranks too, came to the fore once the shackles of nerves was broken by the impending result.

The duo had made 17 unforced errors to only three by Raymond-Stosur, but by the end of the second set tie-break they were able to better the equation to 17:9.

The fightback, however, was short-lived. The top seeds, shaken up from their lapse in concentration, took only 25 minutes to close out the third set, winning it 6-1.

Wimbledon: Sania-Shahar Through To 3rd Round

Sania Mirza and Shahar Peer eased into the women's doubles third round, scoring a straight-set victory over Agnes Szavay of Hungary and Vladimira Uhlirova of Czech Republic at Wimbledon on Tuesday.

The Indo-Israeli pair, who were a set up when play was suspended by rain on Monday, came through 6-4, 6-3.

The duo next face top seeds Lisa Raymond of the United States and Samantha Stosur of Australia.