A great learning experience: Sania

KOLKATA: Sania Mirza packed her kit quickly and hurried across the Centre Court to reach the press conference room even before most of the scribes had arrived. Apparently, her haste was on account of her eagerness to relate her experience of the match against the world number nine and the tournament top seed, Martina Hingis. "Sometimes it takes a lifetime to reach her level of excellence. I learnt a lot of things from the match,'' was how Mirza described her 6-1, 6-0 loss against Hingis.

The most successful woman tennis player from India was so overawed by her opponent's game that she had little explanation for her loss. "It's tough when you are up against Martina Hingis. The match against (Aravane) Rezai was different," she said.

Sania said she felt that Hingis's anticipation and quickness on court was the highlight of the match. "Martina is all about her feet and about getting you to play the extra ball. I was always on the defensive the whole match,'' she said. "She sees the ball before your racquet hits it. She is like Federer in that respect."

Fitness levels

The Indian star said Hingis maintains a higher level of fitness. "I am not fit as her and I don't know how many girls in the circuit (WTA Tour) would be as fit as her."

"I thought I had hit a winner but she kept reaching the ball. Now I need to put the loss behind and move on,'' she added.

Regarding her overall performance in the tournament, Sania said, "I am happy with my performance. I had three good wins in the tournament and am satisfied the way I played and served.''

Martina Hingis sounded happy with the way she reached the fourth final of the season. But she also had some praise for her opponent. When asked if she had expected to win so easily, she said, "I don't think it was that easy. I won some of the important points and games. And that put my confidence level higher than her," she said.