US Open : Olga Govortsova - Sania's first hurdle

Struggling to advance beyond second rounds of Grand Slam events all season, Sania Mirza opens her US Open campaign against world number 64 Olga Govortsova of Belarus as the last tennis Major of the year begins on Monday.

The one-to-one record between the world number 71 Sania and her Belarussian rival is tied 1-1.

Sania had beaten Govortsova in a qualifying event in 2007 and the Belarussian settled the score with a win in Doha next year.

If Sania clears the first hurdle, she may run into 10th seed Italian Flavia Pennetta in the second round.

Sania has not done well in the singles events of the Grand Slams this year, reaching the second rounds of the Australian Open and Wimbledon and falling at the very first hurdle in the French Open.

Although she has tasted some success in the doubles events, becoming the first ever female player of the country to win the mixed doubles title of the Australian Open along with compatriot Mahesh Bhupathi.

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Sania's US Open campaign: Will wrist injury heal ?

The wrist injury that kept Sania Mirza out of action almost half the season last year has flared up once again just a few days before the U S Open but the tennis ace is hoping that it will "hold up" during the year's last Grand Slam.

Although Sania is sure to play in singles and doubles events of the US Open, she may skip the mixed doubles event but a final call will be taken only during the event.

The pain has recurred at a time when Sania had a chance to wipe off the disappointment of not doing well in the singles competitions of the Grand Slams this year.

After getting engaged to childhood friend Sohrab Mirza, Sania began her hard-court season preparations by winning the Lexington ITF Challenger event in July.

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Rogers Cup :Sania Mirza crashes out

Indian tennis ace Sania Mirza fell at the final hurdle of the qualifying rounds of the women's edition of the Rogers Cup on Sunday.

With the main draw accepting only 44 direct entries including all 16 of the World's top players, there was a good chance for the qualifying field to seek a berth in this highly lucrative event with 12 places up for grabs through only two rounds of play.

Sania was made to work hard in her opening qualifying round match by Canadian Marie-Eve Pelletier on Saturday, struggling to a 2-6, 6-4, 6-2 win. But she wasn't quite as lucky against another local girl, 22-year old Heidi El Tabakh, ranked 121 places below Mirza at 195 in the world.

Tabakh raced through the first set 6-1, as Mirza failed to get going at all. Though she failed to find the range on her serve in the second set either, dropping it twice, she did make the most of her opportunities on the El Tabakh serve, winning 75% of the points on her opponents second serve, and levelling the match at a set all 1-6, 6-3.

The final set saw both girls lift the level of their play, as they tried desperately to sneak an advantage. Mirza would regret in the end not taking any of her five break opportunities in the decider, as one bad game cost her the match. El Tabakh took just 7 points off the Mirza serve in the last set, but put a bunch of them together in the 6^thgame, which saw her take the only break point she got, to wrap up the tie 6-1, 3-6, 6-4 in a shade under 2 hours.

El Tabakh also eliminated the qualifying section's top seed, world No.35 Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova on Saturday. Joining El Tabakh in the main draw are other seasoned campaigners Julie Coin, Maria Kirilenko, Maria Rybarikova among others.

Sania will play in the doubles event in the competition alongside her new partner Francesca Schiavone of Italy. They open their campaign against Akgul Amanmuradova of Uzbekistan and Alla Kudryavtseva of Russia.

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Sania Mirza tastes another defeat

Sania Mirza and her Italian partner Francesca Schiavone crashed out of the doubles event of the $2 million Cincinnati Open following a straight set defeat against top seeds Cara Black and Lizel Huber.

The unseeded Indo-Italian pair lost 4-6, 3-6 to the Zimbabwean-American combination in one hour and 14 minutes in the second round of the WTA event.

Meanwhile, playing her second competitive match in more than two years, Kim Clijsters reached the third round of the Western & Southern Financial Group Open with a 6-2, 7-5 win over Patty Schnyder on Wednesday.

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Sania Mirza went up nine places

Sania Mirza went up nine places in the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) singles rankings released on Monday. Sania, whose attempt to win back-to-back International Tennis Federation (ITF) titles failed after she lost the Vancouver Open final Sunday, is now at the 74th position. Her doubles rankings is static at 49th.

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Sania loses in Vancuover final

Top seed Sania Mirza's quest for a second successive ITF title ended in disappointment as she squandered a one set advantage to go down to local favourite Stephanie Dubois in the finals of the USD 75,000 Vancuover Open in the Canadian city.

Sania lost 6-1 4-6 4-6 against a gritty Stephanie, who said the Indian ace looked jaded after playing tough quarterfinal and semifinal matches incidentally against Canadians.

With a partisan crowd egging her on, Stephanie staged a remarkable comeback after being blown away by Sania in the opening set.

Both the players struggled to hold serve in the match but it was Sania who ended up paying more for the mistakes as the Stephanie raised her game at crucial junctures.

"I think that the other Canadians tired her a little bit, they had a really good match, (both) of them," said Stephanie.

Sania thanked the few Indian fans who turned up to support her in the match.

"I guess it helps that we're a billion of us," she joked.

Sania won the ITF title in Lexington, USA last week. The injury-prone Indian is on a comeback trail after recuperating from a wrist surgery.

Sania walked away with USD 6,080 for her effort in the Vancuover Open.

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Sania moves into Vancouver quarters

Top-seeded Sania Mirza quelled a late challenge from American wildcard Laura Granville to enter the quarter finals of the $75,000 International Tennis Federation (ITF) Vancuover Open according to information received here on Friday. Competing in only the third ITF event of her career, the Indian ace defeated Granville 6-2, 7-5. Sania will now take on local favourite Rebecca Marino in the last-eight stage. Rebecca stunned eighth seed Australian Olivia Rogowska 7-5, 7-6 (0) to make the quarter finals. Laura had advanced to the second round after her Japanese opponent Aiko Nakamura conceded the match when leading 4-3 in the final set. Sania had won the ITF Lexington Challenger recently. Her year had started on a high note after winning the Australian Open mixed doubles with compatriot Mahesh Bhupathi in January. She then reached the final of the Pattaya Open in February where she lost to Vera Zvonareva. However, she couldn’t make much of a mark in the French Open or Wimbledon. She is currently playing hardcourt events in North America as preparation for the US Open, which begins later this month.

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ATP rankings; Sania Mirza moves to 85th

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Indian tennis sensation Sania Mirza moved up a place to 85th on the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) rankings in women's singles while dropping one place to 42nd in the doubles.


Yuki Bhambri continues to take giant strides leap-frogging 111 places to 531st position.
The 17-year-old junior Australian Open champion won his third successive International Tennis Federation (ITF) tournament at the Delhi Lawn Tennis Association (DLTA) complex earlier this month before his 17-match unbeaten streak was halted in the second of the two back-to-back tournaments last week.
Yuki had won his maiden ITF title in the last week of April and went on to add another within a week. The two ITF titles had catapulted Yuki to 661st position, a jump of 897 places.
Among other Indian players, Prakash Amritraj fell 95 places to 254th while Somdev Devvarman slipped three places to 135.
In the men doubles' rankings, Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi are static at sixth and eighth places respectively.
Indian tennis' poster girl Sania recently got engaged gets engaged to childhood friend Sohrab Mirza at a plush hotel in Hyderababd, away from the prying eyes of the media.
The glittery ceremony was attended by a few special and close invitees including Indian tennis ace Mahesh Bhupathi, south movie star Chiranjeevi among others.
Sania's father Imran had earlier made it clear that Sania would continue playing the game after her engagement and the wedding would take place a couple of years later.
Sania, India's first female player to win a Grand Slam title, is likely to leave for America later this month to participate in the US Open and other competitions.

Sania mirza's engagement pics

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Sania Mirza is seen with her childhood friend and fiance

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In this photograph released by Sania Mirza's family India's tennis star Sania Mirza is seen with her childhood friend and fiance Sohrab Mirza,left, after their engagement ceremony, in Hyderabad, India, Friday, July 10, 2009

Sania Mirza celebrated her engagement in style

Sania Mirza celebrated her engagement to childhood friend Mohammed Sohrab Mirza by winning the $50,000 Lexington Challenger ITF women’s tennis event in Kentucky on Sunday.

The 22-year-old Hyderabadi girl, who was returning to the courts after her betrothal earlier this month, made light of top seed Julie Coin of France for a 7-6 (5), 6-4 victory in the summit clash.

It was Sania’s first appearance in a Challenger tournament in more than four years and, interestingly, her maiden triumph at this level although she has a Grand Slam in mixed doubles, a WTA Tour title and a dozen wins at the $10,000 level under her belt.

Coin had made rapid strides over the last 12 months to be ranked at 62, but Sania, who was ranked as high as 27 in 2007, proved to be too hot to handle for the French woman. And a large contingent of partisan, diaspora fans gave Sania the ‘home advantage’.

“Everyone here hits the ball and moves well (in Challengers). But winning is about having the experience and doing it consistently.

“My biggest strength is that no one can read my forehand… I can hit it anywhere,” Sania said after her win.

A fall-out of her victory was that Sania had to miss out on playing the qualifiers of the $700,000 WTA Tour Premier event in Stanford over the weekend.

In fact, the tournament had awarded Sania a wild card but that was overruled by the WTA as she had already received three main draw wild cards this year, the maximum allowed under the rules, for events in Dubai, Indian Wells and Miami.

She was also forced to withdraw from doubles main draw due to an injury to her partner Meghann Shaughnessy of the US.

Sania squandered a 5-2 lead in the first set tie-breaker but Coin, after levelling the scores at 5-5, failed to take advantage of a weak second serve from Sania and netted her return.

The 26-year-old French went up 2-0 with an early break in the second. But Sania hit back with a double break to go up 5-3, and although she again dropped serve, the Indian uncorked a third break of serve to seal the match.

The win saw Sania move up three places to 80 in the WTA Tour rankings. However, she dropped 10 spots to 49th in the doubles chart.

On the ATP Tour, Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi held on to their sixth and eighth spot respectively in the men’s doubles rankings.

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