Sania Advances to 3rd round

Sania Mirza is through to the third
round of the US Open with a hard
fought 3-set win over Italian Maria
Elena Camerin 6-4 1-6 6-4. Sania
now needs to beat Maria Bartoli,
ranked one place below her to set up
a potential fourth round clash against
Maria Sharapova.

Sania, despite losing serve in the 3rd
game, build up a 4-1 lead in the first
set. But then she took the foot of the
pedal and found Camerin stage a
dramatic recovery from there. The
81st ranked Italian broke Sania in
the 8th game, and although she took
the set by breaking back the 10th, she
had managed to shift the momentum in her way. The second set saw
Camerin counter-punch with greater efficiency. The Italian broke Sania
in the first and fifth game to take the set in 31 minutes. 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, Sania fought her back into the match. A deadly backhand
cross court 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 back hand 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. Well done, Sania!

Sania moved up to 42

Sania failed to convert her 2nd
final appearance of the year at
the USD 75,000 women's tennis
event in Forest Hills, New York,
into a successful one but saw
her world ranking jump to a
career best 42.

Sania went down to 66th ranked
Lucie Safarova of the Czech
Republic 3-6, 7-5, 6-4 in the final
of the 16-draw size event on
Saturday, but would be happy
that she gained ample match
practice ahead of the US Open
which starts in New York on
Monday.

Playing after a near fortnight's rest following an abdominal strain, the
18-year-old gained 67 circuit points, which combined with bonus points,
pushed her ranking eight places from last week's position of 50 on the
WTA Tour rankings.

Sania also became richer by USD 12,000 for reaching the final of the
Tier-4 event. Sania is set to play Mashona Washington of the US in the
1st round of the US Open, the year's final Grand Slam at Flushing Meadows.

Sania in Final

Sania Mirza crushed the
challenge of Alexa Glatch
of the United States in
the semi-final of the
Forest Hills Women's
Tennis Classic in New
York to advance into her
2nd WTA final on Friday.
The 18-year-old, seeded
third, beat Glatch 6-4,
6-4 to enter the final of
Tier IV event without
dropping a set.

Glatch, who had shocked
top-seed and Sania's
nemesis Akiko Morigami
in the first round, gave the Indian a tough fight as she made her toil
for points. But Sania remained unfazed by the heroics of the American
teenager as she proved her supremacy by wrapping the first set 6-4.
The script did not see any change in the next set as Sania put an end to
Glatch's dream run with a clinical 6-4 win to pocket the match and fix up
a date with Safarova in the finals.

Sania, the highest remaining seed, will meet Lucie Safarova of the Czech
Republic in the final on Saturday. Unseeded Safarova, ranked 65th, beat
compatriot Iveta Benesova 2-6, 6-1, 6-4.

The champion will pocket US $ 22,000.

Sania in Semis

India's tennis sensation
Sania Mirza registered
an easy 6-2, 6-1 victory
over Italy's Roberta
Vinci to advance to the
semi-finals of the Forest
Hills Women's Tennis
Classic in New York.
Third seed Sania is now
the only seeded player
left in the tournament
and looks the favourite
to win her second WTA Tour title. She will take on American wild card 15-year-old Alexa Glatch
in the last four.

In her previous match, the 18-year-old Indian beat Israel's Shahar Peer
7-6, 6-1. Glatch, who is ranked 460 in the world, moved in the last four
beating Slovakian Martina Sucha 6-4, 6-1. In the other semi-final, Iveta
Benesova of the Czech Republic will take on compatriot Lucie Safarova.

Sania cruises into quarters

Sania Mirza beat Israel's Shahar Peer
7-6, 6-1 to move into the quarter-finals
of the $75,000 Forest Hills Women's
Classic in New York. Sania, who is
ranked 50th in the WTA Tour rankings,
will next face Italy's Roberta Vinci. The
Indian is seeded third in the tournament
which has a draw of only 16 players.

The top two seeds -- Akiko Morigami
and Ana Smashnova -- were knocked
out on the second day of the tournament
as they went down to Alexa Glatch and
Lucie Safarova respectively. The victory
helped Sania avenge an earlier loss to
Peer in the qualifying rounds at Stanford.
Sania was beaten 2-6, 6-7 at the
$585,000 WTA Tour event in Standord last month.

Independence Day!

Today is the Independence
Day of the Great Nation, India.

Thanks to Young Indians like
Sania ...
India is emerging stronger
in all aspects of modern life.

We feel proud of you, Sania.

Carry on your good work
in tennis fields of the world.

We feel proud of a great
Indian like you are.

Sania In Top-50 !

Sania Mirza celebrated in style her entry into the top-50 in world rankings
with a 6-2, 6-1 upset win over world number 8 Nadia Petrova at the 1.3
million-dollar Acura Classic women's tennis event in San Diego.

The stunning win over the 4th seeded Petrova on Wednesday, her 2nd
against a top-10 player, saw the 18-year old advance to the 3rd round of
the Tier-I tournament as well as push her ranking upto 47th on the WTA
Tour singles rankings.

Sania becomes the first Indian since Ramesh Krishnan to break into the
top-50 in world rankings. Vijay Amritraj was ranked 16th in July 1980,
while Ramesh Krishnan was ranked 23rd in 1985. His father Ramanathan
Krishnan was ranked world number 3 before the Open era. The highest
ranking occupied by an Indian woman before Sania exploded on the
scene was 134 by Nirupama Vaidyanathan in 1997.

Sania Moving to Top-50

Sania Mirza took another giant stride towards her goal of making it to the
top-50 in world rankings with a 6-2, 6-2 thumping of Italy's Tathiana
Garbin in the first round of the 1.3-million-dollar Acura Classic women's
tennis event at San Diego, USA.

Up against a 78th-ranked player, Sania had an unexpectedly easy outing
at the La Costa Resort and Spa venue on Tuesday. The win, combined
with her two qualifying round victories, would give 59th ranked Sania
43.5 Tour points (including bonus points) and push her ranking at least
by another four places up on the WTA charts.

The 18-year-old Indian will be up against fourth seed Nadia Petrova of
Russia in the second round. Petrova is ranked 8th in the world but yet to
win a WTA Tour title. A win against the top-10 player would give Sania
that many bonus points and speed up her entry into the top-50 bracket.