India’s tennis sensation Sania Mirza started off her Dubai Open campaign quite well as she won her opening match in both the singles and doubles event of the $1.5 million WTA championship.
Wild card entrant Sania, who has been in the midst of controversies recently back home for no reasons whatsoever, got past the challenge of qualifier Vera Dushevina 7-6(5), 6-2 here on Tuesday.
Sania faced some resistance from her opponent as she won the first set in tie-break before pocketing the second with consummate ease. Sania, ranked 32 in the world, broke Vera’s serve thrice in the second cashing in on the few unforced errors made by Russian, ranked 44.
The 21-year old Sania will now meet fourth seed Serbian lass Jelena Jankovic, ranked fourth in world, on Centre Court later in the day.
In the doubles event, Sania combined well with her Italian partner Francesca Schiavone to outplay the formidable pair of Russia’s Svetlana Kuznetsova and Amelie Mauresmo of France with an identical scoreline of 6-4, 6-4.
The Indo-Italian duo reached the quarterfinals after winning their first round clash. They will now fight it out with the winners of the match between top-seed pair of Zimbawean Cara Black and American Liezel Huber and Chinese duo of Shuai Peng and Tiantian Sun.
“The first set had close moments but I was lucky to get some breaks on the sidelines, ”said Sania after winning her match.
“I haven’t faced Jelena for quite some time and there will be a no pressure game and let me thank all my fans who came here to support me,” said Sania during her on-court interview.
Results:
First round: Singles: Anna Chakvetadze bt Agnieszka Radwanska 6-2, 2-6, 6-4; Sybille Bammer bt Ekaterina Makarova 7-6(6), 6-3; Sania Mirza bt Vera Dushevina 7-6(5), 6-2.
Doubles: Sania Mirza & Francesca Schiavone bt Svetlana Kuznetsova & Amelie Mauresmo 6-4, 6-4.
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