Third-time lucky Sania knocks out Hingis

Sania Mirza exacted sweet revenge by shocking world number 8 Martina Hingis of Switzerland in the second round of the USD 145,000 Korea Open women's tennis tournament here today.

The 4-6 6-0 6-4 victory for the 19-year-old Indian came after her straight-set thrashing by Hingis before her home crowd in the Sunfeast Open semifinal at Kolkata last week.

"It is my third time to play her this year and I guess that it is third time lucky," said Sania who had also lost to Hingis in Dubai earlier this year.

Hingis, on a comeback after a three-year sabbatical, had routed Sania 6-1 6-0 last Saturday, but the Hyderabadi lass was on a roll at the Seoul Olympic Park.

"Every match is a different match and every week is a different week. This proves that," said Sania, the first Indian to break into top-50 in world rankings last year, after the match.

Hingis, who won the USD 170,000 event in Kolkata, saved two match points but eventually bowed to the superior form of the Indian.

"She was too good today, she played too well," Hingis said of her opponent ranked more than 50 places below her.

"She played much better than last Saturday. I gave her more chances today ... Little things can make matches."

Sania, whose ranking dipped to 70 after a second round loss at the US Open before it went up to 59 after the semifinal appearance at the Sunfeast Open, next faces Virginia Ruano Pascual of Spain, whom she has never played before.

Sania started the match tentatively, struggling with her serve in the first set.

She fought back from two triple breakpoint situations to hold serve but four double faults proved to be her undoing.

Sania then hit back to blank her opponent before her serving began to falter again in the decider.

She was broken twice but held her nerve to jump 5-4 up and served out the match with confidence.

"A true champion is one who comes back from being down. When I went out to serve at 5-4, I hadn't held my serve for the last two games and I told myself to do whatever was necessary," Sania, the first Indian to win a WTA title in 2004 in her hometown of Hyderabad, said.

"This is the fittest I've been in the last two years and it's the best I've felt this year," she said.

In the first round match yesterday, Sania had rallied from a first-set deficit to beat Korean wild card Ya Ra Lee 6-3 6-0 6-0.