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Tuesday, May 30, 2006

India's Sania Mirza plays a shot to Russia's Anastasia Myskina

India's Sania Mirza plays a shot to Russia's Anastasia Myskina during the French Open tennis tournament at Roland Garros in Paris May 30, 2006. REUTERS/Benoit Tessier

India's Sania Mirza serves to Russia's Anastasia Myskina during the French Open tennis tournament at Roland Garros in Paris

India's Sania Mirza serves to Russia's Anastasia Myskina during the French Open tennis tournament at Roland Garros in Paris May 30, 2006. REUTERS/Benoit Tessier

French open


India's Sania Mirza returns the ball to Russia's Anastasia Myskina in their first round match in the French Open tennis tournament, Tuesday May 30, 2006. Myskina won 6-4, 6-1. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)

Sania lacks the patience to win on clay:MYSKINA

Sania lost to Russia's Myskina in the first round of French Open.

Sania Mirza lacked the patience to win on the slower clay courts but would come good on the faster grass at Wimbledon, her French Open vanquisher Anastasia Myskina said today.Myskina, who ousted Sania 6-1 6-4 in the first round of the French Open women's singles, said it was an open secret that Sania did not like playing on clay.

"Clay is not her surface for sure. I don't think she likes playing here because it is long rallies for her and she likes to hit the ball. She doesn't have a lot of patience for here," the 24-year old Russian said after advancing to the second round at Roland Garros.

Sania said she wanted to be in the top-15 by 2006-end.

"My goal this year is to stay in the top-50. I still want to say I want to be in the top-15," the 19-year old Hyderabadi lass said.

But Myskina had her doubts.

"I don't know if she (Sania) can be top 20. But if she can win for the grass season, she is going to be really good," the world number 12, who became the first Russian woman to win a Grand Slam by triumphing here in 2004, said.

Sania, who returned to the courts last week after a three-week break, blamed lack of knowledgeable coaching back home for her injuries - right wrist and elbow, and lower back.

"These are the negatives of coming from a country where tennis is not popular and people don't know about training and preparation," she said.

"In the past I could be running for an hour and not be match fit.

"I'm growing all these muscles now that I never knew I had. I'm straining my body a lot more than I did in the last few years." Sania said she was coming to terms with the expectations of a billion people.

"It's my second year on the circuit and every day it gets tougher. Last year every time I won a match it was a surprise," she said.

"Now every time I lose a match it's a surprise. People have a lot of expectations for you, especially a billion people in India. It makes it hard.

Sania crashes out of French Open



Paris: Sania Mirza lost in the first round of French Open on Tuesday.

Russia's Anastasia Myskina continued her recent return to form with a 6-4 6-1 win over Sania Mirza in the first round.

Myskina, the winner in 2004 and 10th seed this year, had too much experience for the world number 40.

Myskina will now meet with Sandra Kloesel of Germany or Hungarian Melinda Czink in the second round.
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Apart from her win two years ago, Myskina has never been beyond the second round in Paris, but after taking a tight first set she was always in control.

Runner-up in Istanbul last week, Myskina ripped through the second set with the loss of just one game to take her place in the second round.

In the WTA Tour rankings released on Monday, Sania had slipped down two places to 40 in the singles but jumped two positions to 37 in the doubles.

Monday, May 29, 2006

WTA Istanbul Cup 2006

Tennis players of WTA Istanbul Cup 2006 pose at the Maiden's Tower which dates back to 341 BC on an islet in Istanbul's Bosphorus May 21, 2006. (L-R) Anna Lena Groenefeld (Germany), Mashona Washington (U.S), Ipek Senoglu (Turkey), Anastasia Myskina (Russia), Catalina Castano (Colombia), Sania Mirza (India), Anna Chakvetadze (Russia), Meghann Shaughnessy (U.S). REUTERS/Fatih Saribas

Sania slips to No. 40

New Delhi: Sania Mirza had contrasting luck in the WTA Tour singles and doubles rankings released on Monday.

According to information received here, the 19-year-old Indian slipped down two places to 40 in the singles but jumped two positions to 37 in the doubles.

The slip in singles rankings comes despite a first round win at Istanbul where she also reached the doubles final with Australian Alicia Molik.

The Hyderabadi girl, who returned to action after a three-week break last week, is set to play former champion Anatasia Myskina in the first round of the French Open now underway in Paris.

Swiss Roger Federer and Frenchwoman Amelie Mauresmo continued to lead their respective rankings, with no changes in the top ten on either being recorded.

New ad promo for Tata Tea

Tata Tea has set an ambitious target of making Premium, a mega brand by the end of fiscal 2006-07. As part of its strategy, the company has launched its latest advertising campaign featuring Sania Mirza for Tata Tea Premium. The tennis sensation explodes on the TV screens once again, this time to display a perfect blend of mental and physical agility with Tata Tea Premium. Significantly, Tata Tea Premium's future roadmap is to clearly leverage the brand's strength in geographical spread and the brand loyalty to further expand its market share. Speaking on the occasion, Sangeeta Talwar, executive director, Tata Tea said, 'the new ad campaign helps strongly reinforce the brand proposition of Tata Tea Premium. Mental strength and physical energy are two very important attributes for being successful in life. Tata Tea Premium is seen as a key enabler that activates one to take on challenges.'

Saturday, May 27, 2006

Sania-Molik pair falls at the final hurdle

New Delhi: A second doubles title this season eluded Sania Mirza as she and Australian Alicia Molik went down in the summit clash of the Istanbul Cup on Saturday.

The Indo-Aussie pair was beaten 6-2, 6-4 by Alona Bondarenko of Ukraine and Belarussian Anastasia Yakimova at the clay court event.

Friday, May 26, 2006

Sania Mirza to meet Anastasia Myskina

New Delhi: Sania Mirza was handed a tough draw at the French Open as she runs into former champion and World No. 12 Anastasia Myskina in the first round of the women's singles at the clay court Grand Slam, starting on Sunday.

The minor dip in rankings, currently 38 on the WTA Tour, seems to have played a crucial role in Sania not being seeded at Roland Garros. The 19-year-old Indian returned to the courts this week at Istanbul after a three-week rest to recover from a wrist and lower-back injury.

``I would say that physically I am at around 70 percent. The pain in my wrist and back is much better but the wrist is still swelling up after playing a session,'' Sania told from Istanbul.

``But, I have just had about four days of training after my injury before the Istanbul tournament so I guess it will take me some time to get match fit.''

In the men's section, defending champion Rafael Nadal will face Swede Robin Soderling in the first round with a likely fourth round clash against 14th seed Lleyton Hewitt, who is suffering from a foot injury.

At the top of the draw, World No. one Roger Federer will take on Frenchman Arnaud Clement in the first round with 13th seed Nicolas Kiefer of Germany as his likely opponent for a quarterfinal spot.

The draw: Robin Soderling (Swe) v Rafael Nadal (Esp); Roger Federer (Sui) v Arnaud Clement (Fra); Tomas Berdych (Cze) v Feliciano Lopez (Esp); Vincent Spadea (U.S.) v Nikolay Davydenko (Rus); Andy Roddick (U.S.) v Alberto Martin (Esp); Marcos Baghdatis (Cyp) v Albert Portas (Esp); David Ferrer (Esp) v Guillermo Garcia-Lopez (Esp); Christophe Rochus (Bel) v Thomas Johansson (Swe); Tommy Haas (Ger) v Rainer Schuettler (Ger); Marat Safin (Rus) v Fernando Gonzalez (Chi); Lleyton Hewitt (Aus) v Jan Hernych (Cze).

Wednesday, May 24, 2006

Sania suffers shock defeat

Fifth seeded Sania Mirza suffered a shock defeat at the hands of Michaella Krajicek of The Netherlands in the second round of US $200,000 Istanbul Cup tennis championship on Wednesday.

The Indian ace went down 4-6, 6-1, 6-2 to the ninth-seeded Krajicek, who will now face either Meghann Shaughnessy of the United States or Anastasiya Yakimova of Bulgaria, who play later in the day, in the quarter-finals.

Sania, ranked 38, was playing her first tournament on the WTA circuit after a three-week rest.

Next up for Sania is the French Open Grand Slam, beginning on Sunday.

Tuesday, May 23, 2006

Sania makes winning return

New Delhi: Sania Mirza made a successful return to the courts with a facile win in the $200,000 WTA Tour event in Istanbul on Tuesday. Fifth seed Sania, who had been out of the circuit for three weeks to rest her troublesome lower back, defeated wild card Ipek Senoglu 6-3, 6-1, according to information received here.

Sania, is placed at the bottom of the top half of the draw which features top seed Anastasia Myskina.

Wednesday, May 17, 2006

Sania Mirza to play in Pilot Pen Tennis

New Haven: Hyderabadi teenager Sania Mirza has committed to play in the Pilot Pen Tennis tournament, starting here on August 31.

Elated to have the star Indian in the draw, organisers of the 600,000 dollar WTA Tier II event said charismatic Sania would be playing here for the first time, along with world No. 1 Amelie Mauresmo, defending champion Lindsay Davenport and top-20 players Elena Dementieva, Anastasia Myskina, Daniela Hantuchova and Elena Likhovtseva.

''Sania Mirza has incredible talent on the court and a unique flair off the court,'' tournament director Anne Worcester said.

''Fans have always enjoyed getting a glimpse of up-and-coming players at the Pilot Pen and Sania is definitely a budding superstar,'' he added.

Currently recovering from injuries which worsened after she took part in India's Fed Cup campaign in Korea, world number 35 Sania is expected to return to court before the French Open.

Tuesday, May 16, 2006

Sania sparkle at Buddha swearing-in

KOLKATA: Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee has been swearing by investment ever since the Left Front romped back to power with 235 seats.

In keeping with his sentiment, a host of industrialists from across the country have been invited for Thursday's coronation. But guess who'll be the belle of the ball: Sania Mirza, who isn't remotely connected with industry.

What's even surprising is that it's the tennis star who expressed her wish to be part of the ceremony. The state government was only too happy to oblige.

Asok Bhattacharya, municipal affairs and urban development minister of the 2001-2005 Cabinet, said, "Sania has told me that she wants to participate in the historic occasion. We will have her flown from Hyderabad. We shall be extremely happy to have her here."

Official at Writers' Buildings are excited at the "glam touch" to the industrialist-studded ceremony. One of them said, "Sania is a symbol of today's youth. Her presence will send out a definite and positive message about the new government.

" The other sports person who'll grace the occasion is Sourav Ganguly. Also invited are a host of intellectuals - including professor M S Swaminathan (agriculture scientist), Irfan Habib (historian), P Sainath (columnist), N Ram (editor, The Hindu), Romila Thapar (historian), Jayati Ghosh, Prabhat and Utsa Patnaik (economists). Social activist Teesta Setalvad has also been invited.

The tentative list of invitees was presented to Bhattacharjee on Monday afternoon, a few hours before he resigned as CM of the erstwhile government and staked claim to form a new one.

Saturday, May 13, 2006

Sania's 'Sprite-itude', made just a click away

Sprite consumers, with loads of attitude, now have a new destination on the internet - 'Sprite-itude'. This interactive zone in the online world is focused around the attitude of Sprite drinkers including - Sania Mirza.

For the first time Sprite consumers get a chance to do their own thing on the internet- including creating their very own T-shirt slogan for Sania to wear. Other attractions include- a never before opportunity for consumers to make their own Sprite-itude mobile movie, play games online.

According to Vikas Gupta, Vice-president, Marketing, Coca-Cola India, who is serving his notice period at Coke, "Sprite as a brand is all about puncturing pretensions, having a cut through attitude and stating facts as they are. The challenge was to capture and bring alive the same essence in the online world, that's how the whole idea of launching Sprite-itude was conceptualized. This first of its kind online destination provides consumers with the freedom and the power to do their own thing. Something for which India's latest tennis' sensation – Sania Mirza is also know for."

http://www.myenjoyzone.com/sprite/sania/

Thursday, May 11, 2006

Deutsche Bank signs up Gavaskar, Sania Mirza as brand ambassadors

New Delhi: Deutsche Bank has signed up cricket legend Sunil Gavaskar as its new brand ambassador and tennis star Sania Mirza as product ambassador to promote its recently launched retail banking products and services in India.

Officials said the bank wanted to project stability and maturity through Gavaskar and youthful vigour through Mirza.

Mirza, ranked 37, is the first Indian woman to claim a WTA tour singles title.

�It gives me more pleasure to be their brand ambassador. And I think sharing a stage with Gavaskar is a great honour. I am looking forward to work with him in making the bank better,� Mirza said.

�As an opening batsman, I recognise the value of having a solid partner and therefore I am delighted to partner such a respected global brand like Deutsche Bank,� Gavaskar added.

Gavaskar held the world record of 34 centuries before compatriot Sachin Tendulkar broke it.

The bank recently forayed into the retail segment and also announced plans to beef up its asset management business in India by bringing in its retail mutual fund brand DWS Investments, last week.

Tuesday, May 09, 2006

Sania climbs two spots to 37th place

DESPITE taking a break from the circuit, Sania Mirza`s world ranking continued to improve for the second successive week when she climbed two spots to 37th place in the latest WTA Tour rankings.

Sania, who is keeping off the courts to recover from injury, has 516.75 points and climbed at the expense of Mara Santangelo, who lost three places to settle for 38th position.

There was good news for the Indian girl in the doubles rankings as well as she jumped one spot to reach number 37.

Among other Indians, Shikha Uberoi climbed four places to reach 178 while Isha Lakhani gained three places to number 363. Ankita Bhambri lost three spots and finds herself in the 335 position.

On the men`s front, Leander Paes climbed one spot to ninth while Mahesh Bhupathi dropped six places to 28th spot in the doubles rankings.

Thursday, May 04, 2006

Sania should do well in Wimbledon: Bhupathi

KOLKATA (PTI): Indian ace Mahesh Bhupathi is confident that Sania Mirza would be able to leave behind her recent lacklustre showing and make a forceful comeback in the Wimbledon Championship beginning next month.
Asked to comment on Sania slipping to the 39th spot in the rankings, Bhupathi said, ‘’This can happen to any player. Ups and downs do come in a player’s career.’’
Sania, who had climbed up to the 34th spot in the world list, moved down to 40th before improving one position in the latest ranking chart. Plagued by various injuries, Sania is now taking a three-week break from the court to give herself much-needed rest. ‘’She is trying hard and hopefully we will see him come up with a good result in the Wimbledon,’’ he said.
Bhupathi did not agree that India had made a heavy weather of their Davis Cup Asia Oceania Zone group 1 play-off tie against Pakistan before managing to win 3-2. ‘’We always knew that it will be tough. Pakistan’s number one player Aisam ul-Haq Qureshi is very good on the grass court. We knew that he will give us a run for the money in the two singles matches,’’ he said.
“What is important is that we won. We badly needed to win to stay in group 1 to be in a position to take a shot at the world group,’’ said Bhupathi, now ranked 22nd in doubles.
Asked whether India’s efforts to return to the world group were faltering due to the inability of the second rung players, the lanky tennis star avoided a direct reply. ‘’There is lot of talent now. Prakash Amritraj, Rohan Bopanna and Jeevan Neducheziyan are good. But they have to work hard to break into the top in men’s circuit,’’ he said.

Sania among international stars for Sunfeast Open



Some of the leading players of the world including Indian star Sania Mirza are expected to take part in the USD 170,000 WTA Tour Sunfeast Open tennis tournament scheduled to be held here from September 18-24.

The second edition of the tier iii WTA event, that had its maiden run last year, would be staged at the Netaji Indoor Stadium, Indian doubles ace Mahesh Bhupathi announced yesterday.

"I'm confident that this edition of the tourney will attract some of the leading players in the world. While it is too early to announce the names, one can be sure that India is in for a special surprise this year and we can expect one of the true giants of women's tennis to tour India for the event," Bhupathi said at a media conference.

Tuesday, May 02, 2006

Sania gains one spot to No 39

Despite taking time off the circuit to attend to her various injuries, Sania Mirza has climbed one place to number 39 in the latest WTA Tour rankings.

The Hyderabadi girl, who represented India in the recent Federation Cup zonal qualifiers in Korea, is taking a three-week break to give her body a much needed rest.

She has compiled 516.75 points and despite not taking the court, moved up at the expense of American Jill Craybas who lost one spot to number 40.

There was good news for Sania on the doubles front too as she gained one place to reach number 38.

Shikha Uberoi gained one spot in the singles ranking to get to 182nd while Ankita Bhambri and Isha Lakhani were placed 332nd and 366th respectively.

Shikha is ranked 159th in doubles with Ankita is at 347th.

Frenchwoman Amelie Mauresmo leads the rankings ahead of Belgian Kim Clistjers and Maria Sharapova of Russia.

Nadia Petrova gained a spot to number four displacing Justine Henin-Hardenne.