Fuente : Wimbledon
http://www.wimbledon.org

WIMBLEDON: Mirza Misses Her Moment

/noticias.info/ Wednesday, June 22, 2005

To say that Svetlana Kuznetsova, the US Open champion, was safely through to the third round would not be strictly accurate. She beat Sania Mirza 6-4, 6-7 (4-7), 6-4 but, oh my, was it a struggle. And, oh my, will Mirza, the 18-year-old newcomer from India, give the good and the great a hard time in the coming years.

Mirza is strong, she is determined and she is feisty. It took all the experience Kuznetsova could muster - she was not playing anything like her best and so needed to rely on some other weapon to oust her Indian tormentor - to win. Even then it was far too close for comfort.

The Russian knows her stuff on grass, winning the Eastbourne title last year and reaching the quarter-finals here two years ago. Those were the days when she was best known as Martina Navratilova's doubles partner - and if the nine times Wimbledon Champion could not teach Kuznetsova a thing or two about playing on grass, then nobody could.

But if Kuznetsova thought that her power ought to have made her path into the third round fairly straight forward, she was much mistaken. Mirza can give the ball a hefty clout, too, and she was revelling in her moment on Centre Court. A battler by nature - she won her opening match 8-6 in the third set - and having a great year so far, she gave Kuznetsova the run around.

Kuznetsova's problems started early on in the first set. Spraying the errors around the court, especially her backhand, she got herself into all sorts of trouble. The two exchanged breaks of serve with reckless abandon until, eventually, Kuznetsova got her nose in front but, come the second set, Mirza was on the offensive again.

Mirza first came to everyone's attention at the Australian Open. From nowhere, she made a run to the third round - the first Indian woman to do so well at a major event - and then made Serena Williams graft to get past her. A couple of weeks later, she won her first career title in Hyderabad - another first for an Indian woman in tennis.

Only when she came to serve for the second set did her nerve begin to desert her and, ever so slightly tight, she was broken. No matter, she was back in business in the tiebreak and Kuznetsova was dragged into the third set.

By this stage it was all getting a bit tense and as Kuznetsova began to get things her own way, Mirza let rip, chucking her racquet and picking up a code violation for racquet abuse. But she was not done yet and, as the world No. 5 went to serve for the match, Mirza broke her, held on and made Kuznetsova go through the nail-biting process again. This time the Russian held her nerve and with one final service winner stumbled thankfully into the third round.

Written by Alix Ramsay


Centre Court - Ladies' Singles - 2nd Round
Sania Mirza IND 4 7(7) 4
Svetlana Kuznetsova RUS (5) 6 6(4) 6 notas_de_prensa_archivo