The Hindu : Sport : Sania sets up third round clash with Venus the results

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Sania sets up third round clash with Venus the results

Nirmal Shekar

Paes-Hanley and Bhupathi-Knowles advance; Baghdatis beats Safin in a five-set thriller

— PHOTO: AP

STRETCHED: Sania Mirza overcame Timea Bacsinszky in the second round of the Australian Open on Thursday.

Melbourne: Three years ago here, as a Nobody who wanted to become a Somebody, Sania Mirza, with fire in her belly, cashed in on a wildcard to yank open a door for herself in the Grand Slam arena before bowing to Serena Williams in the third round.

In the Australian Open championship on Thursday as the 21-year old from Hyderabad, already one the most popular and charismatic stars in the Top 50 of the women’s game, set out to keep her third round appointment with Serena’s sister Venus, who do you think was hell-bent on putting the skids under the Indian?

Timea Bacsinszky. Even Google, the closest thing to an omniscient, entity in the known universe, might plead ignorance when confronted with that name.

But then, you could have said as much in the case of Sania in January 2005. It was almost as if Bacsinszky, an 18-year old Swiss qualifier, had stolen the cherished script from Sania’s kitbag and was boldly re-enacting it herself.

Then again, three years in the unforgiving cauldron of professional tennis can teach a young woman a lot of lessons. And Sania has been a pretty smart learner.

In the second round contest against Bacsinszky, the Indian star, struggling for rhythm and consistency in windy conditions on the No.3 showcourt, displayed admirable tactical maturity when hovering on the abyss to post a 6-1, 4-6, 7-5 victory.

Sania will play the American multiple Grand Slam champion, Venus Williams, the eighth seed, in the third round on Saturday.

“I am very excited to play her. She is a great girl,” said Sania. “Probably (we will) play on a big court in front of a big crowd.”

Venus, who, very much like Sania, blew hot and cold on court against Camille Pin of France, got through 7-5, 6-4.

Looking forward to her next match, Venus said, “She (Sania)’s a good player. She tries to play aggressive. Looks like she enjoys herself out there.”

On Thursday, Sania was hardly enjoying herself, particularly in the second and third sets. After a confident start, her game slumped a bit even as the Swiss teenager, with nothing to lose, came up with some uninhibited shotmaking.

Close contest

Suddenly, what seemed to have the makings of a rout not only metamorphosed into a close contest but, early in the third set, appeared to be running away from the Indian as Bacsinszky opened up a 3-1 lead.

The match changed character from midway in the second set as the Swiss player, struggling to keep balls in play in the first set, started hitting the lines consistently with her backhand. Her serve too improved and a bonus was the resultant surge in confidence.

“She was in the match till the end. I think I was just stronger a bit mentally. I hung in there well. I think it is very good for me mentally to come through matches like this,” said Sania.

The key to her victory may well have been her remarkable composure when under pressure and her willingness to trade her patented, aggressive go-for-broke style for a more studied approach, playing each point — from 1-3 down in the third — as if it was the last.

Sania’s best game, with her back to the wall, was the crucial sixth game of the third set when she returned superbly and then advanced to the net to surprise her opponent and break back to 3-3. Then, the Indian let go of a matchpoint in the 10th game on Bacsinszky’s serve before wrapping up the contest in the 12th game.

Awe, admiration

Even as Sania was fighting for her life, the man who has stripped tennis matches of one of their most essential elements — competition — was conducting his unique one-man orchestra in the Rod Laver Arena.

Roger Federer beat the French veteran Fabrice Santoro 6-1, 6-2, 6-0. As for what the great man was up to, over to his eloquent opponent.

“Everything looks easy for him. There is no space to play. There is no space to hit some aces because he is returning everything. He has time when he’s attacking. He has time when he is defending. He is never in a rush. When he is coming to the net there is no space to pass him.”

Santoro made four unforced errors in the entire match; he did not lose. The master hit 53 winners in 21 games; he won.

Leander Paes and his Australian partner Paul Hanley beat Luis Horna of Peru and Stefan Koubek of Austria 7-6(2), 7-6(5) in a first round doubles match. Also in the first round, Mahesh Bhupathi and Mark Knowles of the Bahamas got past Mikhail Youzhny of Russia and Mischa Zverev of Germany 7-6(10), 6-4.

AP reports:

Marcos Baghdatis pulled out some old magic to beat former No. 1 Marat Safin 6-4, 6-4, 2-6, 3-6, 6-2, evoking memories of his run to the 2006 final. The marquee match-up of the night was packed with drama — long rallies, seemingly impossible winners and shifts in momentum. Baghdatis appeared to be on his way to a straight-sets victory, looked down and out, then pulled himself together to set up a third-round meeting with another former No. 1, Lleyton Hewitt.

Safin, the 2005 champion who has slipped to No. 56 on a rash of injuries, tossed his racket twice in frustration while falling behind, then broke it after dropping serve early in the fifth set. Both players took tumbles on the court, with Safin making a lunging layout to pick off a passing shot for a winner and Baghdatis awkwardly doing the splits when he slipped on the dead run.

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