Pattaya Open Tennis
February 9, India’s Sania Mirza reached her second semi-final of the year by defeating Italy’s Mara Santangelo 6-4, 7-6 at the Pattaya Open.
Sania Mirza made an bad start against Mara Santangelo, dropping her first two service games with double-faults. Mara Santangelo served well and followed up with strong groundstrokes to take a 4-1 lead before Mirza finally gained a foothold.
With Mara Santangelo failing to maintain her early level, Mirza fought back to 4-4 and then broke to lead 5-4 when a strong return forced Santangelo into a backhand error. The second set was as closely contested as the first, with Santangelo breaking to lead 5-3. Mirza then went on to claim the tiebreak 7-4.
Mirza told reporters that Mara Santangelo had complex to play against. She said that she did not know any player like her and she was trying to figure how she played and her strenghths and weaknesses. She also said that she had some bad serves but she got them right when she needed them and it motivated her to play better.
Sania will meet Gisela Dulko in Saturday’s semis after the Argentine sixth seed eased past Australian Nicole Pratt 6-2 6-3. Austalian Sybille Bammer took almost three hours to get past Solvakia’s Martina Sucha 3-6, 6-3, 6-3 to reach the second WTA semi-final.
