Sania loses tough battle

June 16, 2006

Sania Mirza crashed out of the DSF Classic International tennis tournament by going down to Meilen Tu of the USA 6-2, 4-6, 6-7 (3-7) in the third round here today. Sania, ranked No. 40 in the world, frittered away the advantage of being one set up and lost in a tough battle which lasted for over two hours at the Edgbaston Priory Club.

Sania won the first set, in which she dropped one game, without much trouble before conceding the second narrowly to the 119-ranked Tu. In the decider, Sania had an upper hand twice as she was serving while leading 5-4 and 6-5. But each time she could not manage to hold onto her serve and allowed the match to go into the tie-break. The American held her nerve in the tie-break and outplayed Sania 7-3 to advance to the next round where she will meet Marion Bartoli of France.