Zvonareva and Mirza to Play final at Pattaya

Sania Mirza of India went through a exhausting three-set semi-final against Magdalena Rybarikova of Slovakia at the Pattaya Open Saturday. Mirza won the match 6-4, 5-7, 6-1 and by doing so, reached the final of the tournament where she will face the no.1 seed Russian Vera Zvonareva.

In a match that lasted for more than two hours, the spectators got their money’s worth as the Indian star faced a determined up and coming star in the Slovak. Mirza was the favorite going into the match but the second set was as hard fought as the score line shows.
Mirza dominated the first set with her big forehands and took the set 6-4. in the second however the story was a little different. Mirza had taken an expected lead of 5-3 but Rybarikova upped her game and momentum as she came back to take two points off Mirza’s serve to take the serve 7-5. the Slovakian had got four games in a row to win he second set.

With honors even going into the third set it was anyone’s game. The effort Rybarikova had gathered together seemed to take its toll and she needed a break for some attention from her trainer for a back injury in the deciding set.
that proved to be instrumental in deciding the fate of the match as a 6-1 set to Mirza was enough for Mirza to secure her first spot in any tournaments final since the year 2007.
Mirza will now face Russia’s Zvonareva in the deciding final match after the no.1 seed sailed past Israel’s Shahar Peer for an easy win.
the match between shahar Peer and Zvonareva was expected to be a tight one but instead

it saw the favourite racing ahead to a 5-0 lead before Peer could get a game on the board and the set was quickly wrapped up 6-1.
Seventh-seed Peer found her rhythm in the second set but in the end it was the Russian who came trumps.

Previous Post : Sania In last eight in Pattaya

Sania In last eight in Pattaya

India’s best woman tennis player Sania Mirza entered the quarterfinals of the Pattaya Open where she will face Tamarine Tanasugarn of Thailand.
According to many of the critics, this was the best game she had played in a very long time and she kept her opponent out of the game from the very beginning and it remained so till the very end of the match. It hardly took Mirza an hour to get done with her opponent Vitalia Diatchenko of Russia 6-4, 6-0.

After her long injury layoff Mirza returned to action in last months Grand slam tennis Australian Open but could not make it pas the second round. It seems like she is getting the touch of old back in her game.

Sania went into the match a little nervous as her opponent had just ousted the third seed Dominika Cibulkova of Slovakia. But the Giant Killer Diatchenko had to surrender against Mirza who looks to have recovered fully from her Wrist injury that kept her out of the game. The Hyderabadi, showed her form of the old by winning all the six games of the second set.

Meanwhile, top-seedVera Zvonareva defeated Yaroslava Shedova of Kazakhstan while seventh-seeded Shahar Peer, the former champion, booked her place in the Quarters with a 6-4, 6-1 win over Yuliya Beygelzimer.

In Rotterdam, World No. 1 Rafael Nadal came back from a being a set down to overcome Simone Bolelli of Italy 4-6, 6-2, 7-5 in the first round of the ABN Amro Open.

Bolelli capitalized on the only break opening he created on Nadal’s service game to seal the first set but dropped games on his own serve twice in the next set.

Serena Williams win Australian open

After the Australian Open Final against Serena Williams, Dinara Safina must have realized that there is no substitute for experience. Williams won her 10^th Grand Slam Tennis Title defeating Safina 6-0, 6,3 at the Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne Park.

Williams demolished Safina in the very first set itself. Winning the set 6-0 Williams crushed the confidence out of Safina. The defeat was no less than an embarrassment for the 22 year old Russian. She failed to come up with anything to trouble Williams and had no answers for whatever her opponent threw at her.

Safina the world no 3 made a mockery of her rankings and Women’s tennis in general. Her loss showed the lack of world class tennis stars in the women’s circuit. The victory meant that Williams replaced Jelena Jankovic at the top of the rankings.

There has been a lot of debate over the women tennis players getting equal cash prizes at the Grand Slams and they themselves did not do themselves good with the kind of show they put up in the final of a grand slam. With the final not even lasting one hour the crowd questioned the value they got for their money.

Safina never managed to get her rhythm in the game. The first set in particular was a nightmare for her. She scored only two points off her opponents serve and only six of her own. On the other hand Williams was at the top of her game. This was the third lowest scoring game of the Australian Open finals history

Safina herself summed up the finals experience by letting the world know how she felt at the big stage. She said that she felt like a ball girl.

This was Safina’s second Grand Slam final after last year’s French Open Final the Safina felt her lack of experience had been decisive. This was Williams’ fourth Australian Open title. Williams also summed up saying that the final was one of her most dominating wins.

Previous Post : Rafa is the Best at Australian Open

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Rafa is the Best at Australian Open

Rafael Nadal proved to the world that his number 1 ranking is fully deserved by winning a five set thriller against Roger Federer in the Final of the Australian Open at the Rod Laver Arena, Melbourne Park.

Nadal who played the longest match in the history of the Australian Open went into the final a little jaded. But that did not stop him from going through another four hours and 23 minutes to claim his first hard court Grand Slam Tennis Championship. Nadal won 7-5, 3-6, 7-6 (3), 3-6, 6-2.

Federer’s bid to equal Pete Sampras’ record of 14 grand slam titles has been put on hold since last year’s US Open. Three Grand Slams have taken place since and Federer has lost all three off then to none other than the Spaniard Rafael Nadal.

The two players were neck to neck winning every alternate points as well as sets to set up a mouth watering fifth set. But Nadal who is one of the fittest tennis players on the circuit showed the world just that and mustered up all the strength in his forehand to wrap up the last set 6-2 breaking Federer twice in the last set.

Nadal himself has six Grand Slam titles to his name after winning four French Open titles and last year’s epic Wimbledon Title. Nadal also becomes the first Spaniard to win the Australian Open Title.

Nadal defeated Federer in the last two Grand Slam finals of last year and replaced the Swiss as No. 1 after winning the gold medal at the Beijing Olympics.

The crowd seemed to have a majority of Federer supporters than Nadal but after the match they all stood up to applaud a Champion in Nadal.

The 2009 final was the first in more than two decades to go into five sets, the last one being between Mats Wilander and Pat Cash in 1988.

Previous Post : Federer struggles past Berdych, into the quarter final.

Federer struggles past Berdych, into the quarter final.

After being two sets down and not in the best of situations in the third, it all seemed to go wrong for former world no. 1 Roger Federer. But the Swiss ace came back in emphatic fashion to go through to the next round of the Australian Open and keep his hopes of winning a record equaling 14^th grand slam singles title alive.

Federer finished the match in around 3 and half hours defeating his opponent Tomas Berdych 4-6, 6-7 (4), 6-4, 6-4, 6-2 on Rod Laver Arena. This was only the fourth time in his entire career that Federer has come back to win from two sets down.

Federer’s Czech opponent dominated the first set completely as he broke federer’s serve very early in the match. The two were on level terms in the second set with both fighting tooth and nail in the tie breaker but it was Berdych again who came out on top.

After that it was all Federer as far as the sets went. But credit to the 20^th seeded Berdych for putting up a fight against Federer. Berdych lost an inch or two off his game went he had to be treated for an injury. The break in play seemed to hamper his tempo but it surely helped Federer to get his focus back into the game.

It was a lucky escape for Federer who could so easily be on the flight back home had he not got his focus back. After he took a 4-0 lead in the fifth set it was evident that the 13 time grand slam tennis winner had avoided one of the biggest upsets this year.

Federer’s faces Argentine Juan Martin del Potro in the quarter final. Del Potro defeated Marin Cilic, the 19^th seed to book at date with Federer.

Elsewhere, Andy Roddick, the seventh seed got past the 21st seed Tommy Robredo, 7-5, 6-1, 6-3. Roddick’s next faces either the third-seeded Serb Novak Djokovic or Marcos Baghdatis.

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