Sania opens 2010 with a win in Auckland

Tuesday, 05 January 2010

Indian ace Sania Mirza opened her 2010 tennis campaign with a come from behind win against Swiss teenager Stefanie Voegele to advance to the second round of the ASB Classic in Auckland, New Zealand. A rather erratic first set which saw 7 breaks of serve ended 7-5 in favour of Voegele as Sania struggled to land her first serve. The second set however was all Mirza as she dropped just 3 points on her own serve all set, and broke Voegele thrice to romp away with it 6-1. The decider, however, fell into the familiar pattern of the first, but this time it was Sania who prevailed 7-5 to wrap up the match in just under 2 hours. Mirza will meet a familiar opponent in good friend Francesca Schiavone in the second round. The 4th seeded Italian made quick work of French qualifier Stephanie Cohen-Aloro 6-2, 6-3. Mirza and Schiavone played each other as recently as October 2009 in the semi-finals of the HP Open in Osaka, Japan with the Italian coasting to a 6-2, 6-1 win. Sania will be hoping to put up more of a challenge this week. The Indian superstar featured later in the women's doubles with Virginia Ruano Pascual. The second seeded pair crashed out in straight sets at the hands of Dominika Cibulkova and Yanina WIckmayer 6-1, 7-6 (8).

 

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