Hingis Faces Mirza In The Semifinal
25th September 2006
Swiss Martina Hingis set up a clash with crowd favorite, Sania Mirza in the semifinals after dispatching Thai Tamarine Tanasugarn in the quarterfinal of the Sunfeast Open in Kolkata, India, 7-5, 6-2, in two hours. Hingis’ win over Tanasugarn extended her dominance over the Thai
player to 4-0 in career head-to-head wins.
Starting sluggishly, Hingis made some errors while trailing Tanasugarn 3-0. After a change of strategy, Hingis held her serve, then broke Tanasugarn’s serve in the fourth and fifth games respectively, narrowing Tanasugarn’s lead to 3-2.Tanasugarn then fought off Hingis’ assault, holding her serve, then breaking Hingis’ serve for a 5-3 lead. Hingis fought back, holding her serve, then broke Tanasugarn’s serve, to level the score at 5-5. Having found her game, Hingis then won the next two games to take the first set, 7-5.
Hingis, beaming with confidence, was unstoppable in the second set, racing to a 3-0 lead. Tanasugarn regrouped and held her serve at 3-1. In the next three games, both HIngis and Tanasugarn held their respective serves, pushing the score at 5-2. Hingis sealed the match by breaking Tanasugarn’s serve for a 6-2 second set win.
“I was making some mistakes in the beginning. I was rushing too much. It was not working. So I changed my style and kept the ball in play. And that made the difference,” Hingis said after the match.
“This is the match everyone was expecting. I hope I’ll also have some support tomorrow,” Hingis said of her next match against Sania Mirza.
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