Sania Mirza Pounces on Petrova at WTA San Diego
Posted on August 4, 2005Indian qualifier Sania Mirza provided the major upset of the day Wednesday at the WTA stop in San Diego, using her power-baseline game to belt Russian No. 4 seed Nadia Petrova 6-2, 6-1 and advance into the third round.
"She's a very good young player, very powerful, has great groundstrokes," said Petrova, who played with a taped right arm, suffering from an elbow strain. "The most difficult thing was that I hadn't really played a match in three weeks, and I had to play someone so powerful...My arm is getting better and hopefully, I'll get more practice matches in, get in better shape and be ready for Los Angeles."
Mirza's plan was to come out swinging.
"I knew if I relaxed for a second she would have jumped on me," Mirza said. "I had a game plan in my mind and I'm glad I was able to do what I needed to."
In other upsets American Mashona Washington ousted (8) Vera Zvonareva in three, and Japan's Ai Sugiyama likewise defeated (14) Daniela Hantuchova.
Seeds advancing on the day were (5) Patty Schnyder (d. Peschke 6-1 in the third), (6) Mary Pierce (d. Groenefeld 1-and-1), (7) Kim Clijsters (d. Domachowska), (9) Elena Likhovtseva (d. Peer, recovering from a first-set bagel), (10) Nathalie Dechy (d. Dulko 7-6 in the third), (16) Dinara Safina (d. (Q) Jidkova, bagel in the third), and (17) Francesca Schiavone (d. (Q) Rodionova).
"I'm really happy with my match today," the 30-year-old Pierce said. "I came out strong from the beginning of the first point of the match. It was nice to see how well I was playing out there today."
In the only all-unseeded meeting, Bulgarian teen Sesil Karatantcheva straight-setted American Lisa Raymond.
Scheduled for Thursday in San Diego are Washington vs. Karatantcheva, Sugiyama vs. Kuznetsova, Schnyder vs. Schiavone, Jankovic vs. Clijsters, Dechy vs. Pierce, Likhovtseva vs. Chakvetadze in an all-Russian, Peng vs. Safina, and Morigami vs. Mirza.
"She's a very good young player, very powerful, has great groundstrokes," said Petrova, who played with a taped right arm, suffering from an elbow strain. "The most difficult thing was that I hadn't really played a match in three weeks, and I had to play someone so powerful...My arm is getting better and hopefully, I'll get more practice matches in, get in better shape and be ready for Los Angeles."
Mirza's plan was to come out swinging.
"I knew if I relaxed for a second she would have jumped on me," Mirza said. "I had a game plan in my mind and I'm glad I was able to do what I needed to."
In other upsets American Mashona Washington ousted (8) Vera Zvonareva in three, and Japan's Ai Sugiyama likewise defeated (14) Daniela Hantuchova.
Seeds advancing on the day were (5) Patty Schnyder (d. Peschke 6-1 in the third), (6) Mary Pierce (d. Groenefeld 1-and-1), (7) Kim Clijsters (d. Domachowska), (9) Elena Likhovtseva (d. Peer, recovering from a first-set bagel), (10) Nathalie Dechy (d. Dulko 7-6 in the third), (16) Dinara Safina (d. (Q) Jidkova, bagel in the third), and (17) Francesca Schiavone (d. (Q) Rodionova).
"I'm really happy with my match today," the 30-year-old Pierce said. "I came out strong from the beginning of the first point of the match. It was nice to see how well I was playing out there today."
In the only all-unseeded meeting, Bulgarian teen Sesil Karatantcheva straight-setted American Lisa Raymond.
Scheduled for Thursday in San Diego are Washington vs. Karatantcheva, Sugiyama vs. Kuznetsova, Schnyder vs. Schiavone, Jankovic vs. Clijsters, Dechy vs. Pierce, Likhovtseva vs. Chakvetadze in an all-Russian, Peng vs. Safina, and Morigami vs. Mirza.