Qatar Open: Injured Sania Concedes Defeat in First Round

Muscle cramps forced Sania Mirza to pull out of the deciding set against Belarussian Olga Govortsova in the first round of the $2.5 million Qatar Open at the Khalifa Tennis Complex here. Sania, currently ranked 32nd in the world, returned to the court here after a month-long injury lay-off. She was injured during the Australian Open mixed doubles finals.

Sania was trailing 2-3 in the third set when she opted out, thereby, handing over the match to the 50th ranked Govortsova 4-6, 7-6 (7-5), 3-2 in two hours and 20 minutes. Sania started her match on a positive note against Govortsova and took little time to pocket the first set 6-4. She lost the next in the tiebreaker though she had five match points.