SANIA MIRZA MADE HISTORY BY REACHING THIRD ROUND IN US OPEN!
Indian tennis ace Sania Mirza set another milestone by reaching third round of US Open Tennis Tournament.
Sania Mirza handed over defeat to Italian Maria Elena Camerin in hard fought a hard fought three-set match 6-4 1-6 6-4.
The 18-year-old Indian, Sania Mirza despite losing serve in the third game, build up a 4-1 lead in the first set. But then she took the foot of the pedal and found Camerin stage a dramatic recovery from there.
Maria Elena Camerin, the 81st ranked Italian broke Sania Mirza in the 8th game, and although the Indian took the set by breaking back the 10th, she had managed to shift the momentum in her way.
The second set saw Camerin counter-punch with greater efficiency. The Italian broke Sania Mirza in the first and fifth game to take the set in 31 minutes.
When she was broken in the second game of the decider, Sania Mirza was a bundle of frayed energy. She was also suffering from cramps in both the legs.
But, three unforced errors by Camerin handed back the advantage to Sania Mirza and from there on, the Hyderabadi fought her back into the match.
A deadly backhand cross court winner was called out, but the chair umpire overruled. It gave Sania Mirza a break point and Camerin promptly put a forehand into the net to go down 2-3.
The drama was not over yet as Camerin levelled the score at 4-4. But Sania Mirza responded by unleashing a series of winners - a back hand down the line, an overhead smash and a return winner - to wrest the lead back.
Sania Mirza finally clinched the issue when a forehand pass set up a match point and Camerin hit a backhand wide.
If Sania Mirza went past third round, there may be an intresting pre-quarter final clash with Maria Sharapova.
Sania Mirza was honored by Indian government by giving her "Arjuna Award". This prestigious award - given to achivers in sports - is given to Indias precious tennis talent Sania Mirza.
As Sania Mirza is persuing US Open championship in USA, her mother Naseema has recieved the award on behalf, from Indian President Dr.A.P.J.Abdul Kalam.
1 billion storng Indias only hope in this sport Sania Mirza has improved her WTA ranking to 42.
Sania Mirza break into top 50, two weeks ago at 48. But due to her illness foreced rest moved her down to 50 in the following week.
However, her splendid performance helped her to reach the finals at Forest Hills Women's Tennis Classic in New York, USA and also gain valuable points to improve her rankings further.
In the other WTA changes Russian Maria Sharapova lost her No. 1 position back to American champion Devenport.
Indian Tennis Star Sania Mirza enterd finals in the Forest Hills Women's Tennis Classic in New York, USA.
Sania Mirza will meet Czech Republic's Lucie Safarova.
Yesterday in the semifinals, third seed Sania Mirza ended 15-year-old American Alexa Glatch's dream run 6-4, 6-4 while Lucie tamed compatritot Iveta Benesova 2-6, 6-1, 6-4 to set up an interesting title clash between the two rising stars.
Glatch, who entered the tournament as a wild card, had upset top seed Akiko Morigami of Japan.
Sania Mirza and Lucie will be playing each other for the first time in this year's final vying for the first prize of USD 22,000. The runner-up will receive USD 12,000.
Sania Mirza has not dropped a set so far this week, posting a 7-6 (7/4), 6-1 win over Israel's Shahar Peer in the first round and a 6-2, 6-1 rout of Italian Roberta Vinci in the quarterfinals.
Sania Mirza, who broke into the top-50 earlier this month, is contnuing her superb run this season that saw her win her first WTA title in Hyderabad in February.
Sania Mirza has already notched up two victories over Top 10 players, stunning US Open champion Svetlana Kuznetsova en route to a quarterfinal finish at Dubai and crushing Nadia Petrova to reach the third round at San Diego.
Despite Sania Mirza's ouster from the tournament, the upset she gave in the second round at the Acura Classic on Wednesday with a 6-2 6-1 victory over fourth seed Nadia Petrova. The win will push Sania Mirza's ranking up to 44th on the WTA tour - which will be announced officially by Monday.
Sania Mirza becomes the first Indian since Ramesh Krishnan to break into the top-50 in world rankings. Vijay Amritraj was ranked 16th in July 1980, while Ramesh Krishnan was ranked 23rd in 1985. His father Ramanathan Krishnan was ranked world number three before the Open era.
Tennis great Vijay Amritraj said Sania Mirza could well break into the top-10 in women's rankings.
``I adore the way Sania Mirza plays and the way she doesn't compromise on her ground strokes. She could be in the top-10 of women's tennis,'' Amritraj said, adding: ``however, Sania Mirza needs to get more first serves in and more access to the net.''
Sania Mirza's dream run at the USD 1.3 million Acura Classic at San Diego came to an abrupt halt with a loss to nemesis Japan's Akiko Morigami.
Playing before a packed crowd at the Grandstand, Morigami carved out a hardfought 6-2, 4-6, 6-4 victory over the 18-year-old Sania Mirza yesterday.
The world number 61 had also beaten Sania Mirzain the Cincinnati quarterfinals last month and now leads the Hyderabadi girl 2-1 in career head-to-head meetings. Sania Mirza's lone triumph over Morigami came in the first round at Wimbledon this year.
Sania Mirza, currently ranked 59th on the WTA rankings, had posted a stunning 6-2,6-1 victory over world number nine Nadia Petrova of Russia in the second round on Wednesday.
To Sania Mirza's credit, the unseeded Indian also notched up two qualifying round wins and a first round victory over Tathiana Garbin of Italy.
Despite the loss, Sania Mirza is expected to break into the world's top 50 in the latest WTA rankings, making her the first Indian woman to do so.
