Sania Mirza into Pattaya Quarters
7th February 2007
Indian tennis icon Sania Mirza defeated the crowd favorite Tamarine Tanasugarn in 3 sets 6-4, 2-6, 6-1 on the hard courts of Pattaya open. Sania didn’t play her best tennis but found a way to win the match.
The first set is filled with errors from both players exchanging a series of breaks. Sania lead 5-3 in the first set and served for the set, but lost her serve with bad service game commiting 4 double faults. Sania got the break back immediately in the next game to win the set 6-4.
In the second set, Sania couldn’t find answer for Tamarine’s solid ground strokes that clipped the lines. Tammie won the set easily 6-2 in 26 minutes.
In the third set, Sania played aggressively and dictated the points. Sania served much better in the third set and won the set 6-1
After the match, Sania said:
“It was an up-and-down match. It was just a matter of who controlled the points better. I was happy to get through the match when I was not at my best,’’
“I knew she could be very dangerous, especially when she plays at home. I’m happy to beat someone who is the crowd favorite and used to be in the top 20,’’
“I had to counter the wind and that was one of the reasons for the inconsistency, but I’m happy to get through to the quarters.”
Sania will next face the third-seeded Mara Santangelo of Italy in the quarter final. Sania never played Mara before. “She is great. She has a different kind of style. I just have to take a rest and get ready for the match,” Sania said.
Sania is making her second quarter-final appearance this season after reaching the semis in Hobart before losing to Anna Chakvetadze of Russia.
Other players advanced to the quarter finals today are fourth-seeded Peng Shuai of China and Sybille Bammer of Austria.
Sania will play her Quarter final match against Mara on Friday.
http://mirza.lawntennisnews.com/
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