Wimbledon: Sania Mirza Crashes Out in Second Round

Sania Mirza squandered as many as four chances to seal the match, going down to Spaniard Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez in the second round of the Wimbledon Championships at the All England Club. The 25-year-old Sanchez, ranked 101, survived four match points to win a marathon match lasting two hours and seven minutes 6-0, 4-6, 9-7 to advance to the third round.

Sania made a dramatic turnaround as she overcame a 21-minute first-set hammering by Sanchez, who with her superb serve and volley game reduced the Indian to a hapless onlooker.

The 32nd seed seemed to be staring down the barrel when she lost her serve in the opening game of the second set and Sanchez went 2-0 up. But a determined Sania, egged on by a sizable number of supporters, then scripted a turnaround and played with a lot more focus.

She won her first game of the match after losing eight on the trot. Suddenly, her characteristic forehand carried the old punch and her shots had the power and depth as she broke Sanchez in the sixth and the tenth game to make it a set all.

In a see-saw third set, Sania displayed confidence, breaking Sanchez in the second game and earning a 4-2 lead. The Spaniard, however, broke back in the seventh game. However, Sania strengthened her game and should have won the match easily, converting any of her four match points. But the Spaniard showed remarkable resilience in saving them in a decider that lasted 68 minutes to secure the win.

Wimbledon: Sania Mirza in 2nd Round

Sania Mirza overcame back spasm and patchy form to prevail over a resilient Catalina Castano of Colombia in three sets to move into the second round of the women's singles in the Wimbledon championships on Tuesday.

Sania, seeded 32nd, beat Castano 7-6 (3), 3-6, 7-5 in more than two hours at the All England Club. She will play Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez of Spain in the second round. Maria, ranked 101, beat German Martina Muller 6-1, 6-1.

The Indian, who was not in top form, having come back in the circuit following a wrist surgery just a fortnight ago, was error-prone but in between showed flashes of brilliance to cross the first hurdle. Midway through the match, Sania took treatment for a back spasm but kept her nerves in the decider to overcome the spirited challenge of unseeded Castano, ranked 146. Sania shrugged off a slow start to win a keenly contested first set.

She struggled with her serve and was pushed to the wall by Castano in her service games. In fact, Sania had to save two break points on her very first serve. The Indian, though, drew first blood when she produced some delectable winners to break Castano in the fifth game. But the 28-year-old Colombian broke back in the next game when Sania double-faulted to hand her two break points and then netted a forehand. Both players traded breaks in seventh and eight game and then held their serves to take the set into a tie-break. Sania, however, came out all guns blazing in the tie-breaker to win it 7-3.

And just when it looked that Sania is getting into the groove, Castano upped her game to break Sania in the first and the fifth game to go 4-1 up. It was here that Sania called her trainer and took a treatment for a back spasm. On return, Sania was broken in the ninth game as Castano levelled the score. The third set saw Sania break Castano twice to take a comfortable 5-2 lead. Serving for the match in the eight game, Sania met a strong resistance from Castano, who broke her and then kept her service intact to keep her hopes alive. Sania wrapped up the match on her serve in the next game when the Colombian hit a return long.

DFS Classic: Sania Outplayed in 2nd Round

Sania Mirza's return to competitive cricket from injury ended in agony today in USD 200,000 WTA DFS Classic in Birmingham. Sania, seeded sixth, went down 3-6 0-6 to New Zealand's no. 1 player Marina Erakovic within an hour's time.

Sania had been laid low by a wrist injury that needed to be operated upon in the US. She was taking the advantage of Birmingham grasscourt event as a part of her buildup to Wimbledon starting next week.

Sania was handed a bye in the first round here, but she never found her footing in today's match and was outplayed by her Kiwi opponent in all departments of the game.

She has teamed up with American Bethanie Mattek in the doubles, and the fourth-seeded pair will be up against Natalie Grandin of South Africa and American Raquel Kops-Jones in the opening round.