Australian Open : Sania-Bhupathi in mixed doubles final

Sania Mirza and Mahesh Bhupathi overcame a sluggish start to sail into the Australian Open mixed doubles finals for second consecutive year as they beat Czechs Iveta Benesova and Lukas Dlouhy in straight sets here today.

The Indians, who were runner-up at the Melbourne Park last year, trailed 1-3 in the opening set before storming back to seal the issue in 54 minutes.

In the summit clash, they will take on the unseeded French-Israeli combine of Nathalie Dechy and Andy Ram, who stunned seventh seeded Spaniards Anabel Medina Garrigues and Tommy Robredo 7-6 (9/7) 6-4.It was hardly the kind of start Sania and Bhupathi, who have dropped just one set en route to the semis, would have wanted as Benesova and Dlouhy broke them in the opening game to race to a 1-3 lead.

However, the Indians got their act together soon after and broke back twice to take the first set in 32 minutes.

Sania and Bhupathi continued their dominance in the second set and broke their rivals thrice.

Such was their hold over the proceedings that the Indians did not face a single break point in the second set, which they wrapped up in a mere 22 minutes.

Sania Mirza (L) and Mahesh Bhupathi celebrate

Sania Mirza (L) and Mahesh Bhupathi celebrate winning a point during their mixed doubles match against Canada's Aleksandra Wozniak and Daniel Nestor at the Australian Open tennis tournament in Melbourne January 28, 2009

Aus open : Sania-Bhupathi in semis

Sania Mirza and Mahesh Bhupathi rallied to beat Canadians Aleksandra Wozniak and Daniel Nestor to seal a semi-final berth in the mixed doubles event of the Australian Open in Melbourne on Wednesday.The unseeded Indian pair overcame a first-set lapse to carve out a 3-6 6-4 10-5 win in one hour and 15 minutes.

Sania and Bhupathi, the runners-up here last year, dropped their serve twice in the first set and wasted one break point to hand the opener to their opponents.In the next set, they missed chances aplenty but were successful in converting three breakpoints out of the seven to make it one set all.In the super-tie breaker, the Indians held their nerves to emerge winners.They next face the Czech pair of Iveta Benesova and Lukas Dlouhy.

Sania Mirza in action with her partner

Sania Mirza (L) and her mixed doubles partner Mahesh Bhupathi in action during their match against Australia's Anastasia Rodionova and Stephen Huss at the Australian Open tennis tournament in Melbourne January 25, 2009.

Sania Mirza with her pair .. (pic)

Sania Mirza (R) and her mixed doubles partner Mahesh Bhupathi leave the court after winning their match against Australia's Anastasia Rodionova and Stephen Huss at the Australian Open tennis tournament in Melbourne January 25, 2009.

Sania mirza with her partner .. (pic)

 Sania Mirza (top) and her mixed doubles partner Mahesh Bhupathi (C) in action during their match against Australia's Anastasia Rodionova (bottom) and Stephen Huss at the Australian Open tennis tournament in Melbourne January 25, 2009.

Aus open:Sania-Bhupathi sails to mixed doubles QFs

India had a fruitful day at the Australian Open as Sania Mirza and Mahesh Bhupathi stormed into the quarterfinals while top seeds Leander Paes and Zimbabwean Cara Black advanced to the second round of the mixed doubles here today.
However, among juniors, only Yuki Bhambri found success, that too after a lot of hard work, while Ronak Manuja and Rushmi Teltumbde were knocked out in the first round.

The unseeded Sania-Bhupathi pair thrashed the Australian duo of Anastasia Rodionova and Stephen Huss 6-1 6-2 in 54 minutes.

The Indian players were ruthless and broke their rivals twice in each set and saved seven break points they faced in the match.

They will next face winners of the match between the Canadian pair of Aleksandra Wozniak and Daniel Nestor and second seeded Chinese-Bahamian duo of Zi Yan and Mark Knowles.

The top seeded Paes-Black pair overcame a stiff challenge from Serbian duo of Anna-Lena Groenefeld and Nenad Zimonjic to carve out a 6-4 4-6 10-7 win in the first round.

Both the pairs broke each other thrice but Paes-Black, the winners of the US Open last year, eventually prevailed in the deciding super-tie breaker to move to the next level.

Sania-Bhupathi sail into second round,

The unseeded duo of Sania and Bhupathi handed a straight set mauling to sixth seeds Czech pair of Kveta Peschke and Pavel Vizner 6-2, 6-4.

The Indian pair will now take on local favourites Anastasia Rodionova and Stephen Huss, who defeated compatriots Jessica Moore and Carsten Ball 7-5, 7-5 in their first round match.

Sania, who has already crashed out of the singles' event, was spot on with her game at the net. The Indian pair took just 27 minutes to seal the first set although, their rivals came back hard in the next set but Sania and Bhupathi were equal to the task to book a place in the second round.

Sania Mirza react on losing - (photo)

Sania Mirza reacts as she plays Russia's Nadia Petrova in a Women's singles match at the Australian Open Tennis Championship in Melbourne, Australia, Wednesday, Jan. 21, 2009

Sania Mirza crashed out of the Australian Open (photo)

Sania Mirza crashed out of the Australian Open Wednesday but said she was just happy to be back after a painful six months on the sidelines

Sania loses : Aus open - photo

Sania Mirza returns to Russia's Nadia Petrova during their match at the Australian Open tennis tournament in Melbourne January 21, 2009.

Sania's Aus tour ends

Indian icon Sania Mirza crashed out of theAustralian Open Wednesday but said she was just happy to be back after a painful six months on the sidelines.

Her 6-3, 6-2 loss to Russian 10th seed Nadia Petrova was only her second match back and even winning once here was good enough for Mirza, who shoulders the hopes and expectations of a sports-mad nation.

But the 22-year-old vowed to bounce back as she works to once again to match her career-high of 27 after recovering from a serious wrist injury.

"I'm just happy to be back and doing what I love doing, playing tennis and competing," she said.

"There was a big crowd out there and I haven't played like that for six months.

"Of course I'm disappointed at losing but I will try and take positives from this.

"I will try and get into the top 30, of course, but the last five or six months have taught me to live for the moment so I don't want to get ahead of myself."

On her game against Petrova, she conceded she was simply outclassed by a better player.

"When you're playing the world number 10 you expect her to raise her game under pressure and that is exactly what she did," she said of her opponent.

"I was a break up and I played a decent match but I still have a lot to work on.

"There are no excuses. I could blame it on a lack of match practice time, or on playing the world number 10. I had a sore stomach as well," she added.

"But at the end of the day I have to give her credit."

Mirza is a idol to many young women in India but controversy has never been far away.

Sania Mirza : Aus open - photo -1

Sania Mirza returns to Russia's Nadia Petrova during their match at the Australian Open tennis tournament in Melbourne January

Sania faces the wall

Sania Mirza is ranked outside the top 100 in the world, but even the best on the circuit know that the Indian is no pushover.

Sania's second round match against Russian 10th seed Nadia Petrova on Wednesday at the Australian Open promises to be a thriller.

In the first round of the Australian Open, Sania beat a higher ranked opponent in Marta Domachowska and that is sure to boost her confidence going into the second round.

Petrova has defeated Sania at Wimbledon in 2007.

"I beat her once and I lost once. Right now I honestly have no pressure on me. I am just going to go out there and try and do what I do best and try and stay focused on my game and we will see how things go," said Sania about her second round opponent.

Sania had a difficult year in 2008. She the year started with some good wins over players in the top 20. She also enjoyed a good run at Melbourne Park, before losing to Venus Williams.

But injury devastated the second half of the year and has made the comeback bid quite a challenge.

"I think Sania will have to go about six, seven or eight months, the last time she played a good tennis match. That is a long time. One needs to keep doing it on a regular basis," former India tennis player Ramanathan Krishnan said.

Sania seems to have made the right start. She looked at ease and in control of her game in her first round encounter. Most importantly her biggest weapon on court, her forehand, did not fail her.

"It was great to be hitting my forehand back to how I used to hit them. Yes, I felt like my forehand was going. My plan was to stay offensive as much as possible from the word go and that was what I tried to do," she said.

Coming back from an injury lay-off is never easy. But if Sania plays like she did in her first round match, then Petrova will have her hands full.

Sania mirza : Australian Open tennis tournament photos - 3

Sania Mirza hits a forehand return to Poland's Marta Domachowska during their match at the Australian Open tennis tournament in Melbourne January 19, 2009

Sania mirza : Australian Open tennis tournament photos - 2

Sania Mirza serves to Poland's Marta Domachowska during their match at the Australian Open tennis tournament in Melbourne January 19, 2009.

Sania mirza : Australian Open tennis tournament photos

Sania Mirza hits a forehand return to Poland's Marta Domachowska during their match at the Australian Open tennis tournament in Melbourne January 19, 2009

Sania polished the pole

Sania Mirza survived a late onslaught from world number 61 Marta Domachowhska in her 6-1, 6-4 win in the first round of the ladies singles of the Australian Open on Monday.

Sania raced away with the first set in just 25 minutes, breaking the Polish player thrice.

The Indian led 2-0 in the second set before Marta stepped on the gas, winning four games on the trot, breaking Sania in the third and fifth games.

From a comfortable 2-0, Sania found herself trailing 2-4 in no time.

Under pressure, the 22-year-old Hyderabadi got her act together and went on to win the next four games to seal the issue.

Sania broke Marta in the eighth and 10th games in the process.

Sania had lost to Marta in 2003 in their first meeting and now the face-to-face record stands 1-1.

Sania predicts better days with Somdev

Sania Mirza is hoping that Somdev Devvarman's success will do more than just help tennis shoot up the popularity chart.

Sania became a youth icon and inspired many youngsters to pick up racquets after a breakthrough 2005 season but finding no other Indian woman player in top-100 upsets her.
"Actually, I hope it does more because although the game did become popular in India after my breakthrough year, we have still not produced another top-100 player in women's tennis," Sania

Sania confident during next season

On the comeback trail after recovering from a wrist injury, an optimistic Sania Mirza is confident of holding her own during the gruelling season ahead.With the Australian Open due to commence next week, Sania has chosen to play a high profile exhibition event in Hong Kong from January 4. She has fared resonably well on her return so far, beating world number 25 Agnes Szavay of Hungary and lost narrowly to Russian Ana Chakvetadze who is ranked 18th while representing the Asia-Pacific team at the World Team Challenge tournament last week.

''I'm reasonably happy with my performance so far but it is still going to take me a while before I can win consistently at this level,'' Sania said.

''I still have some way to go before I feel I'm playing at my best. It's never easy making a comeback but I am a positive person and feel that if I keep working hard I can get my rhythm back in due course of time,'' she added.

The 19-year-old is happy with her preparations for the Australian Open scheduled to be held at Melbourne from January 19 to February 1.

''Well, it's all been about treatment for my wrist injury, physical training and a three-week tennis and fitness camp in Bangalore along with Mahesh Bhupathi, Rohan Bopanna and Purav Raja followed by some match practice in Hong Kong and Hobart.

Under the circumstances, I couldn't have done much more,'' Sania, who is in Hobart for a WTA Tour event, said.

Sania also defended her decision to skip the WTA event in Brisbane which had ranking points at stake.

''In terms of ranking points - yes, (by playing in Brisbane) I would have had a chance to earn a few points to ensure that my ranking didn't go down too many places. But in Hong Kong, I was assured of a couple of singles and a doubles match against some of the best in the world irrespective of whether I won or lost,'' she quipped.

''I decided that if I could maintain my level, I stood a good chance of regaining my ranking in a few months time and getting in more matches against quality players was initially more important for me on my comeback trail.'' The Hyderabad girl has given consirable attention to her fitness during her pre-season training and is confident of holding her own during a tough season.

''Yes, I have worked hard at my fitness and I do believe I'm moving better on court than ever before.

''Sport at this level is always tough and gruelling and I would not like to look that far ahead. I'm taking it one tournament at a time,'' she said.

With time Sania will win consistently at top level

She toppled the world number 25, dished out a tough fight against world number 18 and is moving faster than ever on the courts, yet Sania Mirza -- on a comeback-trail -- does not want to jump the gun in saying that she has got back the touch which once perched her to the top 30.

A matured Sania is treading her path carefully as the first Grand Slam of the year -- Australian Open -- beckons and is not making any tall promises.

Her choice of preferring an exhibition event in Hong Kong to the point-earning WTA Tour event to get back into business after a long injury lay-off also showed her measured approach to her career.

"I'm reasonably happy with my performance so far but it is still going to take me a while before I can win consistently at this level," Sania told PTI from Hobart where she is playing in a WTA Tour event in the run-up to the Australian Open.

"I still have some way to go before I feel I'm playing at my best. It's never easy making a comeback but I am a positive person and feel that if I keep working hard I can get my rhythm back in due course of time," she added.

She beat 25th ranked Hungarian Agnes Szavay and gave a difficult time to her old nemesis Russian Ana Chakvetadze -- currently the world number 18 -- while representing the Asia-Pacific team at World Team Challenge tournament last week.

Asked how the injured wrist has responded since returning to top level action, she said, "So far so good."

However, Sania feels the hard work she put in improving her fitness has given her dividends. "Yes, I have worked hard at my fitness and I do believe I'm moving better on court than ever before." Speaking about her preparation for the Australian Open, she said, "Well, it's all been about treatment for my wrist injury, physical training and a three-week tennis and fitness camp in Bangalore along with Mahesh Bhupathi, Rohan Bopanna and Purav Raja followed by some match practice in Hong Kong and Hobart. Under the circumstances, I couldn't have done much more." Sania also defended her decision to play in Hong Kong, which was an exhibition tournament rather the Brisbane WTA event to make a comeback.

"In terms of ranking points yes, (by playing in Brisbane) I would have had a chance to earn a few points to ensure that my ranking didn't go down too many places.

"But in Hong Kong, I was assured of a couple of singles and a doubles match against some of the best in the world irrespective of whether I won or lost.

"I decided that if I could maintain my level, I stood a good chance of regaining my ranking in a few months time and getting in more matches against quality players was initially more important for me on my comeback trail.

A "tough and gruelling" season is beckoning Sania but the Hyderabadi is not thinking beyond the Australian Open.

"Sport at this level is always tough and gruelling and I would not like to look that far ahead. I'm taking it one tournament at a time," she said.

Sania-Francesca stunned

Sania Mirza and Francesca Schiavone's were handed a straight-set defeat by Spanirad Arantxa Parra Santonja and Edina Gallovits of Romania at the doubles event of the $220,000 Hobart International WTA tournament on Wednesday.

The fourth seed Indo-Italian pair lost 5-7, 1-6 to their unseeded opponents in the quarterfinal of the hard court event.

Sania-Francesca could not convert any of the two breakpoints in the match while the winners capitalised on the three of the four chances.

Sania will get 70 ranking points for reaching the last-eight-pair stage.

The Indian now heads to Melbourne to compete in the Australian Open -- first grand slam of the year, beginning from January 19.

Sania Mirza eyes the ball ...(pic)

Sania Mirza of India eyes the ball during her match against Agnes Szavay of Hungary at the JB Group Classic tennis tournament in Hong Kong January 9, 2009

Sania waiting for serve...

Sania Mirza of India prepares to receive a serve from Agnes Szavay of Hungary during the JB Group Classic tennis tournament in Hong Kong January 9, 2009

Sania Mirza returns a shot to Anna

Sania Mirza of India returns a shot to Anna Chakvetadze of Russia during their JB Group Classic tennis tournament in Hong Kong January 7, 2009

Sania Mirza serves against Anna

Sania Mirza of India serves against Anna Chakvetadze of Russia during their JB Group Classic tennis tournament in Hong Kong January 7, 2009

Sania cruises to last eight

HOBART: Sania Mirza and her Italian partner Francesca Schiavone reached the quarterfinals of the WTA Hobart International with a straight-set win here on Monday.

The fourth-seeded Indo-Italian combine defeated Latvia’s Liga Dekmeijre and Turkey’s Ipek Senoglu 7-6(4), 6-4 in the first round.

Sania and Schiavone won in one hour and 24 minutes.

Sania Mirza of India (pic)

(L-R) Sania Mirza of India, Zheng Jie of China, Vera Zvonareva of Russia, Alexandra Panova of Russia, Jelena Jankovic of Serbia, Anna Chakvetadze of Russia, Agnes Szavay of Hungary, Michelle Larcher de Brito of Portugal, Gisela Dulko of Argentina and Coco Vandeweghe of the U.S. pose in front of trophies during a news conference ahead of the JB Group Classic tennis tournment in Hong Kong January 9, 2009.

Sania posing before dinner (pic)

Tennis players from left, Sania Mirza of India, Zheng Jie of China, Vera Zvonareva of Russia, Alexandra Panova of Russia, Jelena Jankovic of Serbia, Anna Chakvetadze of Russia, Agnes Szavay of Hungary, Michelle Larcher de Brito of Portugal, Gisela Dulko of Argentina and Coco Vandeweghe of the U.S. attend the news conference in Hong Kong Monday, Jan 5, 2009. They will play at the JB Group Classic 2009 tennis competition from Jan 7-10 in Hong Kong.

Sania posing _ _ _ _

From left, tennis players Sania Mirza of India, Zheng Jie of China, Alexandra Panova of Russia, Anna Chakvetadze of Russia, Vera Zvonareva of Russia and Jelena Jankovic of Serbia, pose at the news conference in Hong Kong Monday, Jan 5, 2009.  at the JB Group Classic 2009 tennis competition from Jan 7-10 in Hong Kong

Sania Mirza teaches a girl (pic)

India's tennis player Sania Mirza teaches a girl during a tennis camp for children in the southern Indian city of Hyderabad December 26, 2008.

Sania Mirza practices with a boy (pic)

Sania Mirza practices with a boy during a tennis camp for children in the southern Indian city of Hyderabad December 26, 2008

Sania Mirza stunned 25th ranked Agnes

Sania Mirza stunned 25th ranked Agnes Szavay of Hungary in straight sets to help Asia-Pacific team become the Silver Group champions of the World Team Challenge here.
World number 100 Sania, playing her first tournament after a lengthy injury lay-off, beat the higher-ranked Szavay, who was representing Team Europe, 6-3 6-4 last night.

Earlier, the Indian ace teamed up with Chinese Zheng Jie to clinch the doubles final 6-1 6-1 against the pair of Europe captain and world number one Jelena Jankovic of Serbia and Portugal's Michelle Larcher de Brito.

The wins gave Asia-Pacific a 2-0 lead in the three-match finals before Jankovic's pull-out from the reverse singles made it 3-0.

Jankovic opted out of the match against Jie today due to flu which the Serb said had left her "feeling weak and sick for the last couple of days".

Asia-Pacific could not make the Gold Group finals of the exhibition tournament after losing to Team Russia. Sania had gone down to old nemesis Ana Chakvetadze 4-6 4-6 in that semifinal rubber.

The twin wins last night come as massive confidence boosters for the injury-ravaged Indian ahead of the Australian Open this month.

The 21-year-old was off courts for most part of the year 2008 due to injuries with a wrist ailment deteriorating to career-threatening proportion.

The Hyderabadi, who relies heavily on her power-packed forehands, was unable to even lift a fork while being treated for the wrist injury, as a result of which her rankings also plummeted.

Ana crushes Sania

Indian tennis ace Sania Mirza, making a comeback from a wrist injury, went down fighting against her nemesis Ana Chakvetadze, resulting in team Asia-Pacific's 0-2 defeat against Team Russia at World Team Challenge tournament here today.
All the hopes of the Asian team making a comeback in the tie rested on Sania after Asia-pacific captain Chinese Zheng Jie lost the first singles to her counterpart Vera Zvonareva.

The Indian ace fought well against the world number 18 but could not help her team as Chakvetadze beat her 6-4 6-4 to seal off the issue.

Yuvi helped Sania

Sania Mirza said Monday she had recovered from a "career-threatening" injury with help from top cricketer Yuvraj Singh.

A beaming Mirza was delighted to be back on court after the painful wrist problem which forced her out of the Beijing Olympics in tears and left her unable even to lift a fork to eat.

Mirza is taking part in the World Team Challenge exhibition event here following treatment recommended by Singh, her friend and an Indian Test batsman.

"Coming back from a career-threatening injury makes it very special to be back," said Mirza.

"Suddenly, from a professional athlete, you become someone who can't pick up a fork," she said.

"I'm just living in the moment and I'm just happy to be back."

The 22-year-old, who reached a career-high ranking of 27 in August 2007, plummeted down the rankings last year as injury blighted her season and is now ranked 100.

Sania speaks before Hong kong WTA event

Sania Mirza is all set to kick off 2009 with a WTA event in Hong Kong.

In 2008, Sania did not do too well with her wrist injury forcing her out of a majority of tournaments.

She finished 2008 ranking 100th in the world with her best performance last year was when she reached the quarter-finals at Hobart.

However, Sania now looks fit and is ready to put the disappointment of 2008 behind her.

"I feel like I am fit. I feel like, you know, that my fitness is at my best right now. And I am just going take it by the day, you know, just try and get back to competing and enjoying and getting the feeling of winning some matches of the game," said Sania.

Sania on come back

Sania Mirza gets an opportunity to assess her form and recovery from a career threatening wrist injury when the Indian tennis star competes in World Team Challenge tournament, kicking off in Hong Kong on Wednesday.

The event will also help the Indian ace prepare for the first Grand Slam of the year -- the Australian Open -- as the tournament features the big wigs of women's tennis, including world number one Jelena Jankovic and multiple-Grand Slam winner American Venus Williams.

"Coming back from a career-threatening injury makes it very special to be back," Sania said.

The event pits three top players from Europe, Russia, America and Asia-Pacific against each other. Sania will represent Asia Pacific along with team captain China's Zheng Zie, who became the first player from her country to reach Wimbledon semifinals last year, and local player Zhang Ling.

The tournament will kick off with a match between number one players from the Asia-Pacific zone and top seeds Russia -- Zheng Jie and Vera Zvonareva.

Sania as number two player of the team will play the second singles against her nemesis and world number 18 Ana Chakvetadze.

Sania has never won a match against Chakvetadze, who emerged winner in all their four meetings so far, including the third round of US Open in 2007.

Sania could play only 12 tournaments last year due to a wrist injury and was forced to skip the French Open and the US Open, which resulted in a fall in her rankings to 100.

As per the format of the tournament, top two players from each team will compete in singles, while the third player called the 'Star of Tomorrow' competes in doubles along with one of the singles players.

The four teams are placed into a semi-finals draw based on seedings determined by the combined WTA ranking of the two singles players from each team.

Each semi-final tie consists of two singles matches and one doubles match.

The winners of the semi-finals will advance to the J B Gold Group Final and the losers to the J B Silver Group Final.

The J B Silver Group Final also consists of 2 singles matches and 1 doubles match.

The Gold Group Final consists of four singles matches and one doubles match.

Sania mirza making a comeback

A fit-again Sania Mirza will spearhead India’s challenge at the Fed Cup Asia Oceania (Group 1) tennis event to be played in Australia next month.

Sania, who makes a comeback after a prolonged injury hiatus, will be joined by sisters Ankita and Sanaa Bhambri, and veteran Rushmi Chakravarthi after a sports ministry guideline barred expatriate players, without Indian citizenship, from representing the country.