Losing a Bych for Mirza at WTA Bali

Posted on September 14, 2005

Sania Mirza's late-season run hit a snag Tuesday at the WTA stop in Bali where India's media sensation and the No. 8 seed was summarily dismissed 6-3, 6-2 by unseeded Russian Ekaterina Bychkova.

"Everyone has bad days and it's my bad day today," said Mirza, who exited in under an hour. "I wasn't really in it. I was not in my rhythm."

Seeded winners on the day were (3) Alicia Molik (d. Diaz-Oliva) and (5) Anna-Lena Groenefeld (d. Sprem in three).

Chinese players continued their strong play with two advancing into the second round in Jie Zheng (d. Vento-Kabchi) and qualifier Zi Yan (d. (WC) Prakusya).

Other unseeded players into the second round Tuesday were Spaniards Laura Pous Tio (d. Shaughnessy 6-1 in the third) and (WC) Virginia Ruano Pascual (d. (Q) Sun), and Japan's Aiko Nakamura (d. (Q) Yonemura in two tiebreaks).

Scheduled for Wednesday are Pennetta vs. Muller, Pous Tio vs. Schiavone, Davenport vs. Fujiwara, and Yan vs. N.Li.