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Home > Sports > Tennis > Reuters > Report


Sania crashes out in first round at Bali

Barry Wood | September 13, 2005 21:35 IST
Last Updated: September 13, 2005 22:00 IST


Eighth seeded Sania Mirza lost her first round singles match in the $225,000 WTA Wismilak tennis tournament, on the Indonesian resort island of Bali on Tuesday.

The 18-year-old Indian ace was beaten by unseeded Russian Ekaterina Bychkova, who had knocked defending champion Svetlana Kuznetsova out in the first round at the US Open.

"Everyone has bad days and it's my bad day today," said Mirza, who lost 3-6, 2-6 in 57 minutes.

"I wasn't really in it from the beginning," Mirza, who lost in the fourth round of the US Open earlier this month, said.

"She played a good match but I think I was really rusty. I was just not in my rhythm. A lot of shots that went in other matches just didn't go in today," she added.

Mirza will play in the doubles on Wednesday.

Australian Alicia Molik claimed her first victory since April with a 7-6 6-3 win over Argentina's Mariana Diaz-Oliva to reach the second round.

Third seed Molik missed the French Open and Wimbledon with a virus that affected her balance and her comeback has been slow. The victory against Diaz Oliva was far from convincing.

"It was a win, which is great and fantastic," Molik said. "But I've gotten very used to winning in a fun way and playing great tennis. That's what I'm striving for, at the same time as having to be happy getting through an ugly win."

Playing under lights, Molik fell behind and Diaz-Oliva served for the opening set at 5-4 but the Australian held off the challenge took the tiebreak 8-6.

"If I'd have lost that first set I would probably have got pretty down on myself. I was very lucky to get out of that," Molik said.

In the second set, a double fault gave Molik an early break for 2-1. Diaz Oliva double-faulted again to concede the match.

In the only other match involving a seed, number five Anna-Lena Groenefeld of Germany beat Croatia's Karolina Sprem 7-5, 5-7, 6-3.

© Copyright 2005 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of Reuters content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters. Reuters shall not be liable for any errors or delays in the content, or for any actions taken in reliance thereon.

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Number of User Comments: 5




Sub: hi! sania

hi! not to worry about what had happened at us open i now you very sensitive as i read your interview in ht. i am ...


Posted by Ayush





Sub: Media should leave Sania alone.

I so much agree with you ... Even in US Open, she didn't defeat anybody who was above her in ranking!


Posted by Subodh





Sub: She has reached her peak

Sania has reached her peak, She has performed her best in US open.Anything more will be kind of a bonus to her tennis career


Posted by Rama





Sub: out in first round in bali tournament

Hi Sania, its no problem that u lost ur first game.Its happened at many time when many good players are lost there game against weak ...


Posted by Rupesh





Sub: Sania should,nt get carried away by the prizes offered by Govt and sponsors

This is what happens if a player is raised to zenith only by reaching 4th round as though she has won gran slam.The same happened ...


Posted by Vineet




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