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Saturday, 29 August 2009 |
 Struggling to advance beyond second rounds of Grand Slam events all season, Sania Mirza opens her US Open campaign against world number 64 Olga Govortsova of Belarus as the last Grand Slam tennis Major of the year begins on Monday.
The one-to-one record between the world number 71 Sania and her Belarussian rival is tied 1-1.
Sania had beaten Govortsova in a qualifying event in 2007 and the Belarussian settled the score with a win in Doha next year.
If Sania clears the first hurdle, she may run into 10th seed Italian Flavia Pennetta in the second round. |
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Wednesday, 26 August 2009 |
Sania Mirza moved up three places to be No. 71 in the WTA singles rankings issued on Monday. She, however, slipped to 46 in doubles, a loss of two slots.
Mahesh Bhupathi, meanwhile, replaced Leander Paes at No. 7, a gain of one position, in the ATP doubles rankings.
Bhupathi’s semi-final appearance at the Cincinnati Masters helped him move above Paes. |
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Tuesday, 11 August 2009 |
 Top seed Sania Mirza's quest for a second successive ITF title ended in disappointment as she squandered a one set advantage to go down to local favourite Stephanie Dubois in the finals of the USD 75,000 Vancuover Open in the Canadian city.
Sania lost 6-1 4-6 4-6 against a gritty Stephanie, who said the Indian ace looked jaded after playing tough quarterfinal and semifinal matches incidentally against Canadians.
With a partisan crowd egging her on, Stephanie staged a remarkable comeback after being blown away by Sania in the opening set.
Both the players struggled to hold serve in the match but it was Sania who ended up paying more for the mistakes as the Stephanie raised her game at crucial junctures.
"I think that the other Canadians tired her a little bit, they had a really good match, (both) of them," said Stephanie.
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Monday, 10 August 2009 |
 The top-seeded Sania Mirza is just a step away from her second consecutive ITF singles title after pipping local favourite Sharon Fichman to reach the final of the Odlum Brown van Open here on Saturday.
Sania was not at her best in the semifinal and the Canadian stretched her to three sets. The Indian finally won 6-7(6), 6-3, 6-2.
In the final, Sania takes on the second-seeded Canadian Stephanie Dubois. Stephanie edged out American qualifier Mashona Washington 6-2, 4-6, 6-3. |
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Monday, 27 July 2009 |
 Sania Mirza overcame a fighting Meng Yuan in a three-setter to earn a shot at singles title of the USD 50,000 ITF Challenger event in Lexington, United States.
The second seed Indian defeated the sixth seed Chinese 6-1, 4-6, 6-4 in the semifinal of the hard court event.
She will now fight it out with top seed French Julie Coin, who defeated Kai-Chen Chang of Chinese Taipei 6-2, 6-4 in her last-four match. |
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Saturday, 11 July 2009 |
 It was a match point with a difference, but tennis star Sania Mirza handled it with her usual aplomb. The 22-year-old was formally engaged to Hyderabadi businessman Mohammed Sohrab Mirza on Friday.
In an exclusive, by-invitation only function at a Hyderabad luxury hotel, the evening’s celebrations were kicked off with a ceremonial exchange of rings. Sania hadn’t seen her ring, a glittering solitaire, until the moment Mohammed placed it on her ring finger. Moments later, her eyes reflected its shine and sparkle.
Sania was dressed in a dazzling Shantanu & Nikhil, Swarovski-studded ghagra, snugly fit at the hips and gaining in flare around the ankles. Sania had picked the colours for the occasion — emerald green and gold — much in advance. ‘‘We’ve had this choker in our family for 75 years, emerald set in dull gold. It is my mother’s. Before her, it was my dadi’s and I wanted to wear it,’’ Sania said. |
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Thursday, 09 July 2009 |
 Mohammad Ashraf told Imran Mirza, Sania's father, that the tennis star could not marry anyone else as she "was born for me".
He also demanded that her engagement with family friend Sohrab Mirza, scheduled for Friday, be cancelled.
An alarmed Imran Mirza called the police who have taken him into custody.
He has been produced in court and remanded for a fortnight.
Mirza, 22, is one of the top ranking players. She ranks 85 in the world. |
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Thursday, 25 June 2009 |
 Sania Mirza hopes that within a few years she won't be the only Indian tennis star battling at the highest level.
Mirza said there was finally plenty of talent beginning to come through the ranks as interest in the sport picks up.
And though the 22-year-old does not feel lonely on the tour, she is aware of the pressure on her shoulders as India's only top-100 player.
"I hope there's a lot more tennis players, especially women, come up from India," she said.
"We seem to have a lot of talent and with the right kind of backing I hope that we can have instead of just one player playing out there, about five or six.
"One of the reasons is people aren't very tennis aware in the country," she told here.
"Cricket is more like the sport that people like to play and the masses connect with, but it's getting better. I don't know when but hopefully in a few years it will get better and we will have more than one player on the tour.
"At least there's a lot of interest and that's a start. I remember when we used to play under-10s we were struggling to have eight people fill the draw and now they have draws of 32 and 64 for under 10s and 12s which I think is a big step."
Mirza's face is plastered on posters and billboards throughout India and she recognises that she is carrying the weight of national expectation.
"There's always pressure, especially in a country like India where there's so many people," she said. |
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Tuesday, 23 June 2009 |
 India's Sania Mirza faces a triple challenge to reach the third round at Wimbledon: knock out a seed, beat one of her best mates -- and make sure she's got enough clothes.
Mirza faces Romanian number 28 seed Sorana Cirstea in the second round -- just as soon as the pair work out whose kit is whose.
French Open quarter-finalist Cirstea had to sort out her friend with some spare clothes before Mirza beat Germany's Anna-Lena Groenefeld 6-2, 2-6, 6-2.
"We are really good friends. We're one of those very few who actually stay in touch even when we're not on the tour," Mirza told here.
"We were joking about it just before. I didn't have any clothes and said 'can you please give me some clothes to wear'.
"She said 'yes, I'll give it to you'. And I said 'yes, but if you win and I win, I play you, I'll need clothes as well!'. And she said 'I'll still give it to you!'.
Sania Mirza Photo Gallery
Thankfully the pair have now sorted out enough outfits to see them both through Wednesday's encounter.
"We both have enough kit now. I don't need to borrow stuff from her now!" world number 85 Mirza said.
But joking aside, there will be no love lost when the pair clash on court.
"We're both going to try our best, obviously. You have to make a conscious effort to put a line because you are friends," the 22-year-old said, looking forward to the match.
"When you go on court you are just rivals and opponents and when you go off court you're friends again.
"But we're both professionals and we know where to draw the line. May the best player win."
Though the pair are firm friends, they have never faced each other in a competitive match.
Mirza did not have the chance to check out Cirstea's first round match as they were playing simultaneously on adjacent courts. |
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Thursday, 18 June 2009 |
 On the back of her semi-final run at the Aegon Classic in Birmingham Sania Mirza(Photos ) has jumped 20 places in the WTA singles rankings.
Mirza, who has spent the better part of this year languishing near the 100 mark, and has needed to go through qualifying rounds and apply for wildcard spots for entry into key tournaments might just have turned the corner, climbing back up to 78 in the rankings.
Also making her way up the ranking charts is Maria Sharapova. The former Wimbledon champion who returned to action last month following a 9-month injury lay-off is back up to no. 59 in the world. |
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Sania in News 
