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Sania to meet Govortsova in US Open first round
New York, Aug 28 (IANS) India’s Sania Mirza will open her US Open tennis campaign against Olga Govortsova of Belarus.
It will be 71st-ranked Sania’s third meeting with Govortsova. Sania won their first meeting and conceding the second time midway through.
The Indian had beaten the 64th-ranked Belarussian in staight sets in 2007 at Cincinnati. However, in their last meeting at the 2008 Qatar Open first round, Sania pulled out in the final set due to muscle cramps.In her preparation for the US Open, the Indian has been playing on the International Tennis Federation (ITF) circuit. She won the $50,000 Lexington challenger in July and then made it to the final of the $75,000 ITF Vancouver Open earlier this month.
If Sania overcomes Govortsova, she is likely to run into 10th seed Italian Flavia Pennetta, who beat her in the Indian Wells Open in March.
News Source: Thai Indian News
Somdev, Sania rise in singles rankings
Riding on their recent successes, Somdev Devvarman leapfrogged to 140th, while Sania Mirza rose to 74th in the latest tennis singles rankings issued on Monday.
Somdev owed his rise to his stellar show at the Legg Mason Classic in Washington, where the Indian qualifier stunned world No. 15 Marin Cilic in the second round before Ivo Karlovic ended his dream run.The sterling show helped Somdev jump 13 places in the ATP rankings chart.
Sania Mirza could not win her second consecutive ITF title but her final appearance in Vancouver Open helped the Hyderabadi ace jump nine places to 74th in the WTA rankings ladder.In men's doubles, Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi clung onto their sixth and ninth positions respectively.
News source: NDTV Cricket
Sania, Bhupathi urge cricketers to sign WADA code
Tennis aces Mahesh Bhupathi and Sania Mirza have urged the Indian cricketers to shrug off all apprehension about the vexed 'whereabouts' clause in the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) code and sign on the dotted line.Bhupathi and Sania stressed that the WADA initiative is about weeding out drug cheats from the world of sport and it is duty of every sportspersons to cooperate and contribute to create a dope-free world.
"I have been doing the 'whereabouts' this entire year. I think if the system allows for those who abuse it to be caught we should go with it," Bhupathi said."Lots of the tennis players had apprehensions early but we are all doing it," Bhupathi said. Tennis stars Rafael Nadal and Serena Williams were the two most vociferous critics of the clause but both had no choice but to fall in line and sign it.
Indian cricketers, however, believe that the clause, which makes it mandatory to disclose their whereabouts three months in advance, is intrusive and also poses a security threat. The Board of Control for Cricket in India came out in support of its players and asked the International Cricket Council, a WADA signatory, to explore the possibility of having an anti-doping agency of its own.
It has created an embarrassing situation for the ICC, as cricketers from other countries haven't expressed any reservations so far.
source: Rediff Sports | read full story
Top seed Sania Mirza marched into the quarterfinals of the $175,000 Oldum Brown VanOpen with a comfortable straight sets win over American Laura Granville, 6-2, 6-4.
Granville, a two time former finalist at Vancouver, has seen her ranking plummet to 401 from a career high 27 back in 2003. Granville missed 13 months of tennis last year due to a wrist injury not too dissimilar to Sania's . However the tour veteran was no match for the sheer power of young Mirza's groundstrokes today, and apart from a late flurry in the second set, barely put up a fight.
Sania will rather unusually for her be the 'non-fan favourite' as she squares off against Vancouver local Rebecca Marino in the quarters. Marino used her big serve to overpower no.8 seed Olivia Rogowska of Australia 7-5, 7-6 (0) in her second round match earlier today.
source: The Sports Campus | read full article
Sania rises after triumph
Mumbai: Sania Mirza celebrated her engagement to childhood friend Mohammed Sohrab Mirza by winning the $50,000 Lexington Challenger ITF women’s tennis event in Kentucky on Sunday.The 22-year-old Hyderabadi girl, who was returning to the courts after her betrothal earlier this month, made light of top seed Julie Coin of France for a 7-6 (5), 6-4 victory in the summit clash.
It was Sania’s first appearance in a Challenger tournament in more than four years and, interestingly, her maiden triumph at this level although she has a Grand Slam in mixed doubles, a WTA Tour title and a dozen wins at the $10,000 level under her belt.Coin had made rapid strides over the last 12 months to be ranked at 62, but Sania, who was ranked as high as 27 in 2007, proved to be too hot to handle for the French woman. And a large contingent of partisan, diaspora fans gave Sania the ‘home advantage’.
source: The Telegraph | read full story
Mirza defeats Coin to lift Lexington Crown
In an exciting finale to the ITF Lexington Challenger, second seed Sania Mirza produced some thrilling tennis on the big points to hold her nerve and edge out top-seeded Frenchwoman Julie Coin 7-6 (5), 6-4 in front of a passionate and often over-zealous packed Indian contingent at Kentucky.
Mirza broke Julie Coin in the very first game of the match, and consolidated the break to take an early 2-0 lead. Coin got herself on the scoreboard in the following game and broke the Mirza serve to level proceedings at 2 games apiece.
Both girls held serve till the 8th game of the opening set when Coin broke Sania to pull ahead 5-3. Mirza however showed tremendous stomach for the fight breaking straight back and then holding on to two under-pressure service games to force the opening set into a tie-break.
The breaker mirrored the set, with Coin pulling ahead 5-2 before a Mirza fight back save the Indian ace win four points in a row to nick the tiebreak 7-5.
source: The Sports Campus | read full story
Coin - Mirza to clash in Lexington final
Top seeds Julie Coin and Sania Mirza kept up with their pre-tournament billing to book a place in the final of the ITF Lexington Challenger, Kentucky, USA.
Coin, who had a bit of a hiccup in her first round match against Mallory Cecil, has looked imperious since and wasted little time in dispatching Kai-Chen Chang of Chinese Taipei 6-2, 6-4 in Saturday's semi-final.
The Frenchwomen, ranked 63rd in the World, broke early for a 2-0 lead in the opening set. She quickly stretched that advantage to 5-1, before wrapping up the set 6-2. The second looked to be headed in the same direction as the first as Coin broke early again for a 3-1 lead. The single break was enough on this occasion as she held on comfortably to close out the match 6-4.
Sania Mirza meanwhile was in action on Court 2, and came out like a house on fire. With a score to settle against Meng Yuan of China, who had beaten Mirza in each of their last two meetings, Sania blasted her way through the first set 6-1.
However, the inconsistency that has plagued the Mirza career resurfaced, as she dropped a close second set 6-4.
source: The Sports Campus | read full story
Sania in Lexington challenger semis
Lexington (IANS): India's Sania Mirza has entered the semi-final of International Tennis Federation (ITF) Lexington challenger after her American opponent Lindsay Lee-Waters withdrew from the match due to a leg injury.
The second-seeded Sania, who had to play two matches Thursday evening, was leading 5-2 in the first set when Waters decided to call quits Friday.
Sania next plays sixth-seed Meng Yuan of China who brushed aside fourth-seed American Madison Brengle 6-3, 6-3.
Yuan leads 2-1 in head-to-head record against the Indian, winning in straight sets in Los Angeles in their previous meeting last year.
source: The Hindu
Sania Mirza in ITF Lexington 2nd Round - Friday, 24 July 2009
After rain had cost the tournament almost three days of play, 2nd seed Sania Mirza finally got a chance to let her tennis do the talking as she chalked up a comfortable 6-4, 6-3 win over Bolivian Maria Fernanda Alvarez Teran in the first round of the ITF Lexington Challenger, Kentucky, USA.
After wrapping up the first set with a single break in just under an hour, the World no.83 raced to an early 2-0 advantage in the second set, and closed out the match in straight sets.The poor weather over the last two days has resulted in a badly crunched Thursday for all the players, and Mirza is scheduled to return to the courts in a few hours to play her second round match against Tetiana Luzhanska of Ukraine. Luzhanska destroyed American Allie Will in the first round 6-1, 6-2.
source: Sportscampus | read full story
Sania readying for hardcourt season
HYDERABAD: Tennis star Sania Mirza is in the mood to put her best foot forward despite not having adequate preparations for the U.S. Open tennis championship this August.Speaking to media after her training session here on Tuesday, Sania says that despite lack of time, she is confident of putting up a creditable performance.
Sania, ranked world No. 86, is leaving for the hardcourt season on July 16, which begins with the $50,000 Lexington Open then followed up by Stanford Cup, Vancouver and the Bronx before taking part in the U.S. Open.“Definitely, I am feeling very comfortable hitting the ball as well as I can. If everything goes as per the plan, it should be a very interesting hardcourt season,” Sania remarked.
source: The Hindu | read full story
All set for the U.S. hardcourt season
Sania Mirza still means business. “Any talk of me quitting the sport just because of my recent engagement with Sohrab is wild speculation. There is still a lot of tennis left in me,” she says in a chat with V. V. Subrahmanyam.
For Sania Mirza life hasn’t changed much after her engagement (she got engaged to Sohrab Mirza, son of a Hyderabad-based businessman, on July 10). Within a week after the function — which was largely attended by relatives and friends of both the families, and only Mahesh Bhupathi and Rohan Bopanna were the biggest sports personalities present there — the tennis star was back where she simply loves to be — on the court at the SAAP Tennis Complex.
Under normal circumstances, this is a routine schedule for Sania, who arguably is India’s best-ever woman tennis player given the fact that she happens to be the only Indian to win a Grand Slam title (mixed doubles), partnering Mahesh Bhupathi in the 2009 Australian Open. Her commitment to the sport may have surprised the average fan, but not those who regularly follow her.
Given her unbridled passion for tennis despite suffering so many injuries — one of which forced her out of the game for six months — Sania has in a way, with her extended training schedule, and this time under the watchful eyes of her new companion, Sohrab (in the past it used to be either of her parents), she sent a message loud and clear that she still means business in the world of tennis.
source : Sportstar | read full story
Sania goes out; Amritraj-Qureshi make it through
Sania Mirza’s singles campaign at Wimbledon ended with a 6-4 6-4 second-round loss to Romanian 28th seed Sorana Cirstea. Unforced errors proved costly for the Indian in the contest lasting an hour and 22 minutes contest. Mirza mostly played from the baseline, but struggled to keep her booming strokes inside the court. The inability to win points on her serve added to her woes.
Mirza had the first opportunity to break serve, but Cirstea denied her friend the favour. Mirza then committed a double fault in the fifth game to hand the Romanian a break chance. The Indian saved four breakpoints in that game but another double fault meant that all the good work was undone.
That one break proved costly for the Hyderabad player as the next four games went with serve and Cirstea claimed the first set.
The second set, too, started on an ominous note as Mirza dropped her serve in the very first game. Though she managed a double break — second and fourth games — to take a 3-1 lead, the unrelenting errors allowed the 27th-ranked Romanian to claw her way back.
source: Indian Express.com
Mirza, unlikely hero in cricket-mad India
LONDON: Sania Mirza first picked up a tennis racket aged six but if she had been a boy the Indian would probably have reached for a cricket bat instead.‘I always said maybe if I was a guy I would play cricket,’ Mirza told Reuters after a 6-2 2-6 6-2 first-round victory over Anna-Lena Groenefeld at Wimbledon on Monday.
‘Cricket is like a religion in the country. Every second person plays cricket no matter what. If any boy is born, he is going to pick up a cricket bat,’ she added.But Mirza, 22, took up tennis instead and is thrilled to be playing again after eight months off last year with a wrist injury even if she is still some way from her highest ranking.
‘I was top 30 in the world, even today I am top 100 and it has been like that for four or five years,’ said the Indian, who is currently a lowly 85th in the world. The picture is even bleaker for India in the men’s game.Their best male player, Somdev Devvarman, 24, is ranked 129th and lost in the first round of Wimbledon qualifiers.
read more | source: Dawn.com
Mirza makes winning start at Wimbledon
India’s Sania Mirza won her first round match at Wimbledon on Monday, beating Anna-Lena Groenefeld of Germany 6-2, 2-6, 6-2.
World number 85 Mirza beat Groenefeld, ranked 23 places above her, in one hour, 51 minutes on Court 14. Mirza, who has never made it past the second round at Wimbledon, now faces number 28 seed Sorana Cirstea of Romania, who beat her compatriot Edina Gallovits 7-5, 6-1 on the adjacent Court 15.
Mirza lost in the first round at the French Open, but entered the All England Club having made it to the semi-finals at Birmingham, the pre-Wimbledon grass warm-up event. The 22-year-old won her two previous clashes with German number two Groenefeld, but they had not played each other since 2005.
Groenefeld won the toss and elected to serve. The first game went to six deuces but Mirza eventually broke when her opponent hit long. Mirza raced into a 4-0 lead before Groenefeld held serve and broke back to make it 4-2. However, Mirza broke again and served out the first set. The first game of the second set also went to six deuces but this time Groenefeld won the game and broke Mirza immediately afterwards. Though Mirza broke back to make it 2-3, Groenefeld had the upper hand and won the set 6-2. Mirza broke in the first game of the final set and went 4-1 up. The Indian held on to her service to win the set and secure a second round berth.
textual source: Hindustan Times | image source: Times of India
Sania loses in doubles, Bhupathi advances in Aegon International - 16 Jun 2009
EASTBOURNE: India's Sania Mirza and Chia-Jung Chuang of Chinese Taipei bowed out of the Aegon International tennis with a first-round defeat again
st fourth-seeded Australians Samantha Stosur and Rennae Stubbs 5-7, 4-6 on Tuesday.
Mahesh Bhupathi and Mark Knowles of Bahamas advanced to the men's doubles second round, defeating Australian Stephen Huss and England's Ross Hutchins 4-6, 7-6 (4), 10-3.
Second seed Bhupathi and Knowles will face American Travis Parrott and Slovak Filip Polasek, who got the better of Russian Teimuraz Gabashvili and Dmitry Tursunov 4-6, 6-3, 10-4.
Top seed Leander Paes and Czech Lukas Dlouhy will take on Polish Mariusz Fyrstenberg and Marcin Matkowski in the first round.
source: Times of India
Sania up 20 spots to 78th - June 16th
Calcutta: Riding on her semi-final appearance in the just concluded Aegon Classic in Birmingham, Sania Mirza jumped 20 places to reach 78 in the latest Women ’s Tennis Association (WTA) singles rankings, released on Monday.
After a prolonged lean patch, the 22-year-old did exceedingly well at the grass court event where she also made it to the semi-finals of the doubles event with her partner from Chinese Taipei — Chia-Jung Chuang.Sania also rose two rungs to be at the 35th spot in the doubles ranking.
However, Sania conceded her first round singles match of the qualifying event of the $60,000 Aegon International in Eastbourne after a hip strain on Sunday against Alexandra Dulgheru of Romania. Sania was trailing 4-6, 2-3. She will play the doubles though.
There were no changes in the Association of Tennis Professional’s (ATP) men’s doubles rankings as Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi retained the fifth and ninth spots respectively. Somdev Dev Varman’s singles rank remained static at 132.
Meanwhile, the top 10 rankings in the ATP and WTA lists remained unchanged.
source: The Telegraph
Sania made to run the hard yards -
15 Jun 2009
BANGALORE: In professional sport the toughest miles are rarely recorded. Never applauded. Over a period of time, they become personal milestones,
the place where the will scored over a whim.
On Saturday, Sania Mirza lost both her semi-final matches in the AEGON Classic in Birmingham
. In the singles, the 22-year-old went down to the 13th seed Magdalena Rybarikova in a tough three-setter. A few hours later, Sania and Chia-Jung Chuang of Taipei took the exit in the doubles competition too.
After spending nearly five hours on court, she had her dad (Imran) drive her almost five hours from Birmingham to Eastbourne the same evening for her next meet. They arrived at their destination
in the wee hours of the morning on Sunday and Sania took the court against Tatiana Poutchek at 1 pm.
read full article |source: Times of India
Sania, Maria in Birmingham Quarters
Sania won her match yesterday against Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, 7-6(3), 3-6, 6-2, in the Singles category and will be playing against Melinda Czink in the quarter finals.
She and Chia-Jung Chuang also won the doubles match against Ipek Senoglu/ Vania King by 6-1 7-5 and will be playing against Yung-Jan Chan/Zi Yan in the 2nd round.
read full article.. | source: The Sports Campus
- Won't interfere in Sania's career, says beau Sohrab
New Delhi: Sohrab Mirza, fiancee of tennis star Sania Mirza, on Wednesday said that he would not interfere in the ace player's career and she would be free to make her decisions even after their marriage.
"Sania's tennis has an incredible fan following all over the world and I, too, am a great admirer of her game. Therefore, I understand the concern and qualms coming up in people's minds," said Sohrab.
"However, following Mr. (Imran) Mirza's clarification about these speculation, I don't think there should be any more uncertainties whatsoever about Sania's career or misconceptions of early retirement. I would personally second his statement and add that she has my unconditional backing, support and encouragement," says the 23-year-old youngster.
.. read more | source: Indian Express
- Sania up 18 spots in doubles
Sania Mirza, who made the women’s doubles semi-finals of last week’s Madrid Open along with Chinese Taipei’s Chia-Jung Chuang, jumped 18 spots to be ranked 42nd in the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) doubles rankings released on Monday. However, Sania moved down a place in the singles to be ranked 91st with 692 points.
..read more | Source: The Telegraph
- Sania-Bhupathi win mixed doubles title
MELBOURNE: Mahesh Bhupathi and Sania Mirza registered their first Grand Slam title together, crushing Andy Ram and Natalie Dechy final of the Australian Open on Sunday.
The Indian wild card pair proved too good for the Israeli-French duo, thrashing them 6-3, 6-1 in 55 minutes.
The win also gave Bhupathi his 11th Grand Slam title -- seventh in mixed doubles. This was also Bhupathi's second mixed doubles title here, following his 2006 triumph with Martina Hingis.
...read more | Source : The Times of India
Breaking New Ground: Sania Mirza
STANFORD, CA, USA - Under a clear evening sky in Stanford, California, Sania Mirza walked out onto center court to a sell-out crowd at the Taube Family Tennis Stadium to contest her second round match against former world No.1 Venus Williams. Contrary to what could be assumed, however, the capacity crowd of 4,353 was just as much a function of Mirza's presence as it was the reigning Wimbledon champion's. The Indian teenager has been breaking new ground this season for a country of over one billion people, and it doesn't look like anything is going to stop her from going even higher in the years to come.
Born in the heavily-populated city of Mumbai, which is situated on the western coast of India along the Arabian Sea, and raised in the smaller, more laid-back city of Hyderabad on the eastern coast along the Bay of Bengal, Mirza's focus during her early years was not always on tennis. She began playing the sport at age six when her mother Naseema, who runs her own printing press, would take her to the local tennis courts during summer holidays on the way to swimming, always one of her other main interests. The young girl quickly took a liking to the sport, but had to overcome obstacles from the beginning.
source: Sony Ericson WTA Tour | read full story |
