E-Paper
Sania Mirza crashes out of US Open
Sania Mirza left the court in a hurry, walking away from a scoreboard that read 0-6, 0-6 for her and the agony of the past 50 minutes.
Sania Mirza left the court in a hurry, walking away from a scoreboard that read 0-6, 0-6 for her and the agony of the past 50 minutes.
Even before the Loius Armstrong Stadium had started filling up for the third day, the Indian was victim to a stunning execution by Italian 10th seed Flavia Pennetta. The duo had shared a healthy rivalry before — Pennetta leading 3-2 in the head-to-head. And after a battling performance against Olga Govortsova in the first round, Sania said she was fit and ready for the battle in the second.
But the fightback never came. Sania slid off-course, losing the first set in 22 minutes and the second in 28. She managed to win on 21 points in the entire match. The match statistics showed 28 unforced errors to 10 by Pennetta, and six winners to 20 by her rival.
The Italian was not flawless on the day— she struggled to keep the first serves in. But she piled on the pressure with her pace as Sania suffered an incredible meltdown. The Indian has had an indifferent run this season, even failing to qualify for a few WTA tournaments during the US Open series, where she has scripted some of her biggest success stories.
Somdev also faces a tough task when he takes on 23rd seed Phillip Kohlschreiber of Germany in the second round on Thursday.
