"It's great, I like it. It motivates you to give 120 per cent," was what Sania Mirza said about the Kolkata crowd after she decimated Japanese qualifier Junri Namigata 6-2, 6-2, in a match that lasted a little less than an hour, at the Sunfeast Open on Tuesday.
But to give you a sample of what the three-fourth-full Netaji Indoor stadium crowd was like, here's a short sequence of events.
- Empty court being swept of the tennis ball fur from the previous match. Someone from the crowd shouts 'Sania Mirza'. The stadium applauds.
- Sania walks onto the court. Louder applause.
- Sania approaches the net for the toss. Even louder applause.
- Umpire announces Namigata's name. Muted applause.
- Umpire announces Sania's name. ROAR.
After that, every time Sania hit a winner, the stadium erupted. Every time Sania committed a double-fault, the stadium oooh-ed. Every time Sania approached the end of the court where there was a stand (the other end of the stadium is in the other court's area) people stood up and clapped.
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And when a delicate drop shot Sania tried hit the net, there was a collective scream that resembled the four-letter word that begins with an f.
All the umpire's pleas of 'silence please' fell on ears that only wanted to hear the sweet sound of Sania hitting a winner.
And this was on a day most of Kolkata stayed home because of a transport strike.
On her part, Sania -- in white shorts, t, black socks and white cap -- was poise personified in the beginning. But her 18-year-old self surfaced with a double fault yell in the second set, when she was up 2-1.
In the post-match press conference, when it was pointed out to her that she had made some unforced errors, Sania's reply was a characteristic: "You guys are never satisfied."
An hour before the match, Sania's coach, John Harrington, admitted he was working on Sania attacking the net more. And that was evident in spurts.
"I've been working on that (attacking the net) for a while, it's only now that I've got the confidence to do it in a match," said India's newest sports sensation.
Everyone knows the Hyderabadi has a great forehand, but on Tuesday, she hit some picturesque backhand crosscourt winners too. She served two aces and did not concede a single point in the last game.
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Sania, however, said that it was a close game, because there were a number of deuces, and there was a time when she could have gone lagging 1-3 in the first set.
On Wednesday, Sania takes on Hungarian Melinda Czink, who is ranked 121 in the world. Later on the same day, the world number 34 plays her first doubles match of the tournament, alongside Virginia Ruano Pascual. The two take on Punam Reddy and Ragini Vimal.
Results:
Singles: Maria Elena Camerin (ITA) bt Rushmi Chakravarthi (Ind) 6-2, 6-0; Antonella Serra Zanetti (ITA) bt Chia-Jung Chuang (TPE) 6-2, 6-3; Sunitha Rao (Ind) bt Neha Uberoi (Ind) 7-5, 4-6, 6-4; Sofia Arvidsson (SWE) bt Tamarine Tanasugarn (THA) 6-2, 6-1; Villmarie Castellvi/Sunitha Rao bt Evie Dominikovic/Galina Voskoboeva 6-4, 6-4; Sania Mirza (Ind) bt Junri Namigata (JPN) 6-2, 6-2; Melinda Czink (Hun) bt Ma-Emilia Salerni (ARG) 6-4, 7-5; Rika Fujiwara (JPN) bt Arantxa Parra Santonja (ESP) 6-4, 1-6, 6-4.
Doubles: Maria Elena Camerin/Karolina Sprem bt Emmanuelle Gagliardi/Ma Emilia Salerni 6-4, 6-4; Elena Likhovtseva/Anastasia Myskina bt Ankita Bhambri/Sanaa Bhambri 6-2, 6-0.
