Event Sania-tized of Stars Wednesday at WTA Bangalore

Posted on February 16, 2006

If Bangalore tournament officials thought attendance this week at the WTA stop was a problem, they received a shock of low attendance to come on Wednesday when top seed Sania Mirza, cruising along after a 6-1 first set, suddenly tightened up and made a 1-6, 7-5, 6-2 exit in the second round to unheralded Frenchwoman Camille Pin.

"She wasn't hitting the ball powerfully and I had to generate everything," Mirza complained after the match. "It was hard playing someone like that."

After a too-aggressive start, Pin popped the Indian No. 1's confidence bubble by playing a few feet back and letting the slap-happy Mirza self-destruct with unforced errors.

"Initially, I was trying to stand close to the baseline, and was making mistakes," Pin said. "Then I decided to step back and become more defensive. It worked, and I found my distance with the ball."

In first-round action No. 6 seed Jelena Kostanic edged Austrian qualifier Daniela Kix in three sets, while the tournament also lost its No. 2 seed when Shahar Peer was straight-setted by Italy's Maria Elena Camerin.

Other winners into the quarterfinals after second-round play Wednesday were the Ukraine's Alona Bondarenko (d. Rodionova), American Vania King (d. Pratt 0-and-1), and Hungary's Melinda Czink (d. Koryttseva), all in straight sets.

Battling for the remaining quarterfinal spots on Thursday are Kudryavtseva vs. Camerin, Santangelo vs. Obziler, Kostanic vs. Kanepi, and Lakhani vs. Fedak.