Hurricane Sania storms into the US East Coast

NEW YORK: While the western coast of the US has been hit by Katrina, the eastern side is reeling under the rush of Sania. Eight months ago at the Australian Open she was hardly heard of. Now, at the US Open, the year’s last tennis major, she is the most talked about. Sania Mirza has taken the tennis world by storm.

“It’s very nice when you have people from your own country and the country you don’t belong to cheering you on, so much crowd support, especially where you don’t belong,” the 18-year old Indian sensation said after beating Maria Elena Camerin of Italy 6-4, 1-6, 6-4 in the second round on Wednesday.

It started with her reaching the Autralian Open third round where she lost to former world number one Serena Williams. Williams said before the match then that she had heard very little about her opponent who was only entered via a borrowed wild card.

Now, however, the Hyderabad girl, the first Indian to win a WTA Tour title, is the most talked about name in tennis. Her peers have mentioned her in the locker rooms. Seasoned journalists have written about the nose-ringed, skirt-clad, God-fearing racquet wielder from that most conservative of countries. Yet, it is her game that has truly been the rage. When she was broken in the second game of the decider, Sania 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 and from there on, she fought her way back into the match. A deadly backhand crosscourt winner was called out, but the chair umpire overruled.

It gave Sania 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 responded by unleashing a series of winners, a backhand down the line, an overhead smash and a return winner, to wrest the lead back. Sania finally clinched the issue when a forehand pass set up a match point and Camerin hit a backhand wide