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Post by Brinyi on Jul 27, 2005 23:09:20 GMT -5
6-3 6-2.
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Post by Brinyi on Jul 29, 2005 15:21:41 GMT -5
I liked this analysis by "gigado" on the Tennis India forum.I watched the match yesterday as well and didn't think that Sania played bad at all. Her game is such that she goes for her shots irrespective of the situation and as Venus said, some go in and some dont. The difference yesterday was that she was playing a far superior athlete who was able to get some scorchers back with depth and be ready for a few more. In the qualies, in the couple of matches that I watched, Drake and Lee were just pushing the balls back and lacked consistency when handling all the pace that Sania generates. I think some of the errors yesterday were due to Venus and Sania played as well as she could at this stage in her career. Period. I thought she surprised Venus with her ability to pull the trigger and go for outrageous winners on some of Venus's deep shots on both flanks. Any time that Sania had drawn first blood on the points and kept the ball in play, She was winning the points. Only that she could not do that with any degree of consistency due to the quality of her opponent yesterday. I wrote after the Aussie Open, when I got to watch her match against Serena and thought that Sania had a long way to go, but after watching her matches at Stanford, I think she is for real. She definitely has something special, her ability to generate amazing amount of pace with some sublime timing of her strokes. This is a huge advantage and she catches her opponents by surprise as they cant comprehend where the power is coming from and have been sluggish to respond. Yes she makes tons of unforced errors, but thats her game. She also wins truck loads of points because she goes for it pretty much on every shot and from spots that her opponents have no sense of what to expect. It is exhilirating to watch, no question about that. She was going for returns on both flanks off of solid, wide serve hit at 105 and skidding, for short angle, full blodded returns which pretty much found the bottom of the net every single time against Venus. It is a very low percentage shot to make, no matter how much of a genius you are, consistently. The same returns were scorching winners against Drake and Lee, who didn't hit the serve with accuracy and pace. It was amazing the kind of returns and groundies that she was hitting against typical 'pushers' on the tour. It is no secret that Sania's mobility is below par, no ifs or buts. She hardly runs on the court, especially side to side. Up and down movement is slightly better, She did get to a few lame drop shots that Maureen Drake tried. Her points are quick, 2 to 3 shots pretty much max on every point. Thats it. So far, either her opponents can handle her pace and spit it back to her and force her to play longer points, in which case it will be difficult to win with low percentage going for the lines every single shot style or her opponents cant handle the heat and the match is over in 40 mins. I also watched Jelena Jankovic's match yesterday against Frazier and I can see why a player like Jelena gave trouble to Sania at this point in her career. Same with Shahar Peer, these types of players can handle the pace and force a longer rally which Sania totally dislikes, also they can take care of their service games fairly well. I personally would prefer a bit more variation to her game and better shot selection, but she has been so successful playing her natural game, you probably dont want to curtail that as well. I am sure experience in these types of events would help her a great deal and that good results will keep coming.
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Post by Brinyi on Aug 3, 2005 20:10:26 GMT -5
Mirza stuns Petrova with easy victory at Acura By MARY FOSTER Associated Press Writer August 03. 2005 4:47PM CARLSBAD, Calif. (AP) - Unseeded Sania Mirza of India stunned No. 4 Nadia Petrova 6-2, 6-1 Wednesday at the Acura Classic, which has lost two of its top three players in two days from an already-depleted field. Mirza, ranked 59th in the world, had a surprisingly easy time with the ninth-ranked Petrova in the second-round match. She joins Shuai Peng of China and Mashona Washington as unseeded players who knocked off highly ranked but blowing Russians early in the $1.3 million tournament. Peng was a 7-5, 6-4 winner Tuesday over Elena Dementieva, seeded third and ranked sixth. Washington defeated No. 8 Vera Zvonareva 6-4, 4-6, 6-4. With Lisa Raymond losing earlier in the day, Washington is the only remaining American in the field. Four Russian players advanced to the third round from the original 11 who entered the event. The tournament has lost three of its top four seeds, including No. 1 Lindsay Davenport, who withdrew Sunday with an injury. Earlier injury pullouts were second-seeded Maria Sharapova, French Open champion and fifth-ranked Justine Henin-Hardenne, and No. 7 Serena Williams. Mirza, who started the season ranked No. 169, had to win three matches in the qualifying tournament to get into the main draw. ``When you play a (highly ranked player), nothing is easy,'' Mirza said. ``Even if the score is love and love, I don't think it would have been an easy match. I knew that as soon as I would have relaxed, even for one second, she would have jumped on me.'' In January, Mirza became the first Indian to take a WTA Tour title when she won in her country at Hyderabad.
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Post by Brinyi on Aug 4, 2005 9:01:03 GMT -5
From the SD paper: Her parents named her after a character in a Pakistani soap opera. "My mother says she was very pretty," said Mirza. "I won't argue about that." Mirza showed up in the interview room yesterday wearing a T-shirt bearing the message, "You Can Either Agree With Me Or Be Wrong." "I'm 18 years old," said Mirza, "and I think I sometimes should act like an 18-year-old."
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Post by vaiva on Aug 4, 2005 11:15:31 GMT -5
knocked off highly ranked but blowing Russians early in the $1.3 million tournament. But beware of fatigue against mpaperfolding
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Post by Brinyi on Aug 4, 2005 12:12:58 GMT -5
That's an interesting matchup -- Mpaperfolding is also rampant!
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Post by Brinyi on Aug 4, 2005 15:04:30 GMT -5
From Eurosport.com
India's Sania Mirza faces Japan's Akiko Morigami for the third time in a month and a half as they meet in San Diego's third round on Friday. Mirza upset 4th seed Nadia Petrova 6/2, 6/1 for her best performance in a major tournament since reaching the third round at the Australian Open in January. The two met for the first time at Wimbledon's first round where Mirza won a thrilling 6/3, 3/6, 8/6 encounter.
But the 18-year old from Hydrebad was no match for the Japanese in qualifiers in Cincinnati two weeks ago as Morigami took revenge and stormed to an easy win 6/2, 6/3. This victory on hard court, the surface on which the tournament is played in San Diego, surely gives a psychological advantage to the Japanese but Mirza has been in great form lately as her sensationnal victory over Petrova shows.
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Post by Brinyi on Aug 4, 2005 18:48:39 GMT -5
Well, I'm not too surprised to see Akiko pull out a 6-4 third set victory. She's playing well and is a player who will go toe to toe with Sania in the slugging departent.
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Post by Brinyi on Aug 4, 2005 18:49:01 GMT -5
Nor am I too disappointed, but don't tell anyone, please.
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Post by Brinyi on Aug 5, 2005 6:49:40 GMT -5
Aparently Sania is assured of a top 50 ranking on Monday.
"Sania becomes the first Indian since Ramesh Krishnan to break into the top-50 in world rankings. Vijay Amritraj was ranked 16th in July 1980, while Ramesh Krishnan was ranked 23rd in 1985. His father Ramanathan Krishnan was ranked world number three before the Open era. The highest ranking occupied by an Indian woman before Sania exploded on the scene was 134 by Nirupama Vaidyanathan in 1997. Leander Paes' highest ever singles ranking was 73."
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Post by vaiva on Aug 7, 2005 8:23:18 GMT -5
Have you seen S. Peng play, Brinyi?
I watched a bit of her match against Big Momma yesterday and kept thinking that Clijsterzzzzzz must have had good stuff in her pipe (saying that Peng had a potential for a top 3 player). Peng is not quick enough to counter outright power of Pierce (or Sharapova or Davenport, for that matter). There are plently of ball-bashers who play 1-2 strike tennis for Peng to struggle against. And more are coming (Nikole V, Sesil K or Ana I, to name a few). She'll probably have occasional successes against cronic crosscourters a-la Kim or ED and struggle against most Bollettieri mass produce.
Too bad, cause I thought she was quite an exciting prospect.
And I bet you too are as exited as moi about Super Woman's resurgence. Go Ai!
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Post by adeegee on Aug 7, 2005 8:25:26 GMT -5
Peng was so bad in that match, I think my Grandma could've beaten her.
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Post by Brinyi on Aug 7, 2005 8:28:38 GMT -5
Vaivita!
No, I have never seen Peng play -- hopefully all these mysterious names on draw sheets will come to Toronto. Mybe they don't really exist???
Anyway, too bad about her game style. And yes, Ai Ai Ai whoooooooooooo !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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Post by vaiva on Aug 7, 2005 8:29:47 GMT -5
Peng was so bad in that match, I think my Grandma could've beaten her. I don't think she was that bad. Just too much power from Fiddling Momma which never allowed Pend to get into her stride or construct a point
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Post by vaiva on Aug 7, 2005 8:32:14 GMT -5
Brinynio! You coming to Toronto? First few days, I dare guess?
Is janie dead or on honeymoon with Sir Sid again ?
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Post by Brinyi on Aug 7, 2005 8:33:23 GMT -5
I'm also excited about Funky Flo!
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Post by Brinyi on Aug 7, 2005 8:34:37 GMT -5
Yes, I am hoping to go to Toronto for Sunday qualies, then Mon-Tue.
Janie is on a well-deserved holiday -- coming back next week, I think
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Post by vaiva on Aug 7, 2005 8:36:34 GMT -5
I'm also excited about Funky Flo! Too bad Funky Flo couldn't handle the expectations of 3 whales: me, you and crazy Brit
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Post by adeegee on Aug 7, 2005 15:41:44 GMT -5
I don't think she was that bad. Just too much power from Fiddling Momma which never allowed Pend to get into her stride or construct a point She shanked the ball about 100 times, she looked incredibly nervous. It was a pretty ordinary match in my humble opinion. Too bad Funky Flo couldn't handle the expectations of 3 whales: me, you and crazy Brit was that directed at me
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misha
Junior Member
Posts: 78
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Post by misha on Aug 8, 2005 22:34:48 GMT -5
Vaiva, did you see her match against Clijsters? Because she looked like a different player Saturday morning. Part of that was no doubt Big Momma playing good first-strike tennis, but Peng looked tired. Friday night I thought she was INCREDIBLE. Fabulous accuracy off both sides. Not a great serve, but faster than, say, Sania. By the way, I don't think Sesil is much of a big basher, she's more of a counter-puncher, at least so far.
Sania is having a great run, as is Mpaperfolding! That's exciting.. I'm so glad. I always thought she was more talented than her ranking.
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misha
Junior Member
Posts: 78
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Post by misha on Aug 8, 2005 22:37:42 GMT -5
Having said that, if Kim is going to play a defensive game a la Hewitt, she can't get away with making as many unforced errors.
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Post by janie on Aug 12, 2005 9:21:43 GMT -5
Sania's got a pulled stomach muscle -- I hope it's not too bad. She's been playing too many events lately, and her planned fall schedule, which I saw on a Sania website some wtaworlder launched, is also ridiculous. Poor kid is going to be a wreck if she keeps going at this foolish pace.
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Post by Brinyi on Aug 22, 2005 15:51:35 GMT -5
Indon Rankings, Aug 22 329 (364) PRAKUSYA, WYNNE INA 76.00 10.00 10 462 (463) DAMAYANTI, AYU FANI INA 37.50 3.00 11 468 (471) TEDJAKUSUMA, ROMANA INA 36.50 2.00 9 563 (566) GUMULYA, SANDY INA 25.00 4.00 8 748 (750) MENDE, SEPTI INA 14.00 0.00 10 1148 (1145) SAWONDARI, WUKIRASIH INA 4.00 0.00 4 1212 (1205) TANANTA, LAVINIA INA 3.25 0.00 3 Angie has fallen off the board.
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Post by janie on Aug 23, 2005 7:00:20 GMT -5
Man, those rankings really stink!!!
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Post by Brinyi on Aug 23, 2005 11:16:18 GMT -5
Yes, but Wynne is moving up to reclaim her rightful rank! 328! Ha! Just kidding!
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Post by janie on Aug 23, 2005 12:14:34 GMT -5
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Post by janie on Aug 24, 2005 20:27:04 GMT -5
Sania Mirza d. Shahar Peer 7-6(4) 6-1
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Post by Brinyi on Aug 25, 2005 13:34:18 GMT -5
Today it was Vinci's turn to get a whooping, 2 & 1. Sania is preparing nicely for her fourth round win over Sharapova at the USO!
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Post by janie on Aug 25, 2005 16:07:58 GMT -5
Sania is going to get a great reception in NYC.
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Post by Brinyi on Aug 25, 2005 19:04:56 GMT -5
I do believe that was an Indian wave!
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