Sania Mirza Glides into Sunfeast Round Two
In Kolkata, India, only 52 minutes after Rushmi Chakravarthi’s opening serve, Sania Mirza was thanking the audience with waves and blown kisses as fans applauded her easy success. Fifth-seeded Sania breezed past her fellow Indian, qualifier Chakravarthi, in grand style, winning 6-0, 6-4.
Sania’s domination of the first set was the result of strong down-the-line forehands and cross-court volleys; Chakravarthi’s adjustments to come to the net more frequently in the second set showed Mirza a bit more challenge, but she also adjusted her game accordingly to take the match. “I had a good match. There were a few nervous moments but I am glad that I was able to overcome that,” she said.
However, Sania’s triumph as a seeded player in the $175,000 Sunfeast Open was hardly the rule. The day’s most surprising upset came from Australian Casey Dellacqua, who eliminated second-seeded Karolina Sprem of Croatia 2-6, 7-6, (7-2), 6-2. Sprem was last year’s runner-up at Sunfeast, eventually ceding to Russia’s Anastasia Myskina.
Furthermore, Italian Alberta Brianti, placed at number 127 on the WTA rankings, took out Ukranian Yuliana Fedak, who had been seeded third, 6-4, 6-2, and Russian Alla Kudryavtseva triumphed over her eighth-seeded compatriot Anastassia Rodionova, 1-6, 6-3, 6-3. Nicole Pratt of Australia, seeded behind Sania at seventh, also avoided an upset.
India’s other representatives did not fare as well as Sania; wild card Shikha Uberoi lost to Czech Hana Sromova, and Sanaa Bhambri similarly bowed to Angelica Widjaja of Indonesia.
But spirits are still high surrounding Sania’s graceful success. Sania was delighted that former Indian cricket captain Sourav Ganguly attended the match—the two are “pretty good friends,” according to the tennis star. She also focused on her strategy to achieve success in the upcoming rounds, citing her aggressive stroke. “‘Though I have learnt to be more patient than before, I know I have to continue to play my strokes. I will win some and will lose some. But as long as the winners are more than losers I don’t mind,” she said.