Sania Mirza Proceeds to Second Round in US Open Doubles After Varied Week
Sania’s recent success in women’s doubles has endured, as she and Liezel Huber of South Africa stormed past Angela Haynes and Neha Uberoi, both of the United States, 6-4, 6-0 in the US Open’s first round. This win qualified the duo to continue to the next round.
This win demonstrated Sania’s ability to bounce back, following her loss to 14-seeded Francesca Schiavone of Italy on Thursday, eliminating her from the US Open singles competition. Mirza’s uncannily consistent tendency of late to start with a bang but falter in the second set was once again visible in this match on Thursday. She began brilliantly, pulling away with a 4-1 lead in the opening set and causing Schiavone no small amount of concern until the Italian player just as swiftly overtook her 5-4. Sania rallied to win the set 7-5, but in the following two sets, her finest form petered out for losses of 1-6 and 2-6.
Hopes dashed of recreating last year’s advancement to the fourth round of the Open, Sania remained positive, both praising her opponent and keeping her spirits up about her own performance. “[Schiavone] is known for hanging in there and she has loads of experience. It was a good match but I guess I could have played better,” she said.
She has reason to remain positive, despite having slipped 10 spaces to 54th in the WTA rankings. After all, her performance in the first round of the US Open was one of her finest all year, demolishing Karolina Sprem of Croatia, 6-4, 6-2 in a mere 75 minutes (compared to the 140 minute battle which tested not only Mirza but Schiavone in the second round).
She also experienced a similarly easy win against Alexa Gatch, breezing past her American opponent 6-2, 6-3 at the Forest Hills Classic. She eventually ceded to Lourdes Lino Dominguez, ranked fourth, putting up a fight with a 4-6, 7-5, 3-6 loss.
“I have improved tremendously since last year,” Sania opined, citing new additions to her game and expressing thanks for her good health, after last year’s surfeit of injuries.