Jaded Sania finishes runner-up at Pattaya Open

Pattaya, Feb 15 (PTI) A second WTA Tour title eluded
India's ace tennis player Sania Mirza who ran out of steam to
go down 5-7, 1-6 to world number five and top seed Vera
Zvonareva in the Pattaya Open finals here Sunday.

A 'tired' Sania, whose only WTA singles triumph has come
at the Hyderabad Open in her breakthrough 2005 season, fizzled
out after brief fightback in the one hour and 17 minutes long
contest.

"No excuses but I just wished I felt fresher," a dejected
Sania later said.

"I had a long singles match on Saturday and then had to
play the doubles. I felt tired," Sania said.

The injury-ravaged Indian ace was, however, happy to
kickstart her new season on a high. Sania, currently ranked
126th on the WTA charts, battled a career-threatening wrist
injury last year and was off-court for most part of 2008.

"I couldn't ask for a better way to start the year. I
just came back to the tour at the Australian Open and won the
mixed and I reached the final in my second tournament. I feel
better and better each week," she added.

Sania fought her heart out against her formidable
opponent but the Russian drew from her vast experience to halt
the India's brilliant run.

The first set was fiercely fought and both the players
traded many a breaks but unforced errors in pressure
situations did Sania in.

Once she lost the first set, and squandered the chance to
break Zvonareva in the opening game of the second set, Sania
was all but out of the match.

Nevertheless, Sania's sizzling run in the event will
boost her confidence and give a fillip to her plummeting WTA
ranking which is currently 126th.

Sania could have got an early lead at the start of the
match as she had two break points in the opening game but she
squandered both.

Sania then broke Zvonareva in the third game but the
Russian did not allow Sania to run away with the lead as she
fought back and broke the Indian in the very next game.

After trading breaks in the ninth and 10th games,
Zvonareva held her serve in the 11th to make it 6-5.

It was imperative for Sania to win the next game and
stretch the set to a tie-breaker but the Russian pounced on
the second breakpoint to wrap it up in her favour.

Sania made a good start to the second set, earning a
breakpoint in the opening game but Zvonareva warded off the
danger.

The first three games went with serve before Zvonareva
converted a breakpoint in the fourth game to take a 3-1 lead
and consolidated it further by holding her serve in the next
game.

Trailing 1-4, a comeback looked difficult for the Indian.
The Russian broke Sania once more and then held her serve to
claim the title. PTI PM
PMR
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