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| February 10, 2007 | Saturday | Muharram 21, 1428 |
Sania reaches Pattaya Open semis
PATTAYA (Thailand), Feb 9: India’s Sania Mirza twice came from behind to upset third seed Mara Santangelo 6-4, 7-6 (7/4) and reach the semi-finals of the Pattaya Open here on Friday.
There were also victories for unseeded Sybille Bammer of Austria, who won a marathon battle against Martina Sucha, fourth seed Peng Shuai, who beat Israel's Tzipora Obziler 6-3, 6-2, and sixth seed Gisela Dulko of Argentina, who ended the run of Australia’s Nicole Pratt 6-2, 6-3.
Sania made an appalling start against Santangelo, dropping her first two service games with double-faults. In contrast, her Italian opponent served well and followed up with strong ground strokes to take a 4-1 lead before Sania finally gained a foothold.
With Santangelo failing to maintain her early level, Sania fought back to 4-4 and then broke to lead 5-4 when a strong return forced Santangelo into a backhand error. Sania then closed out the set with an ace.
The second set was as closely contested as the first, with Santangelo breaking to lead 5-3 but then dropping her serve to love. Sania then went on to claim the tiebreak 7-4.
Bammer had never beaten Sucha in five previous attempts, and she has probably never worked as hard as she did on Friday to gain her first victory.
It took the Austrian left-hander nearly three hours to edge through 3-6, 6-3, 6-3 in a match that featured an astonishing 42 break points and 34 deuces.
The battle was a torrid affair played almost entirely from the baseline, with neither player doing much more than trade ground strokes.
But two breaks of serve at the beginning of the final set gave Bammer a 3-0 lead and set her on the way to victory. In the semi-finals, Bammer plays Peng and Sania faces Dulko.
Results (x denotes seeding):
Quarter-finals: Sybille Bammer (AUT) bt Martina Sucha (SVK) 3-6, 6-3, 6-3; Sania Mirza (IND x5) bt Mara Santangelo (ITA x3) 6-4, 7-6 (7/4); Peng Shuai (CHN x4) bt Tzipora Obziler (ISR) 6-3, 6-2; Gisela Dulko (ARG x6) bt Nicole Pratt (AUS) 6-2, 6-3. —AFP
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