Sports India

Indian tennis sensation Sania Mirza held her nerves to overcome a brief spell of erratic display and a stubborn opponent to storm into her maiden WTA final at the USd 140,000 Hyderabad Open here yesterday. The 18-year-old, who became the first Indian to reach the third round of a Grand Slam event at the Australian Open last month, got the better of eighth seed Maria Kirilenko of Russia 6-4 7-6 (7/4) in the semifinals at the Sports Authority of Andhra Pradesh Tennis Complex here.Sania will now clash with Alyono Bondarenko of Ukraine in the summit clash today. Bondarenko advanced to the final without hitting a ball after her opponent second seed Anna-Lena Groenefeld of Germany pulled out after suffering from acute right knee strain.

“This was the best match I played so far. It is a great feeling,” said Sania immediately after the match. Meanwhile, Sania said she was pulling out of next week’s WTA event in Columbia due to injury. Sania said though she was in the middle of a fine season, she was very much concerned about the ankle injury. “The injury woes are increasing and increasing. I played with pain. But when I take to courts, I forget about everything. It’s only me, my opponent and ball,” Sania said.

“I am close to peaking. I hope to get rid of injuries".

Unseeded Indian teenager Sania Mirza beat eighth seed Maria Kirilenko of Russia 6-4, 7-6 (7/4) Friday to make her maiden WTA final in the Hyderabad Open here.

Mirza outstroked last year’s runner-up Kirilenko to set up a title clash with Alyona Bondarenko of Ukraine, who had a walk-over from second-seeded German Anna-Lena Groenefeld. Groenefeld conceded the match because of a knee-strain suffered earlier in the tournament.

Mirza became the first Indian woman to reach the third round of a Grand Slam at the recent Australian Open and put up another impressive display in front of her home crowd Friday.

“I am very happy to be playing my first WTA final in my own hometown,” Mirza said afterwards. “Today’s match was my best in the tournament so far.” In the first set, a crucial double-fault by Kirilenko in the fourth game gave Mirza her first service break.

However, the Russian broke right back to square the match. The two traded serves again and the set was poised at 5-4 when Mirza broke to clinch the set.

In the second set, nerves seem to get the better of both women as they faltered at crucial points. Mirza, powered by an early break, had a chance to close out the match when she was serving at 5-3 up.

But her serve deserted her as she double-faulted twice and allowed the Russian to bounce back. Kirilenko followed up with a second break of Mirza’s serve and earned the first of two set points when she was up 40-30 in the 11th game.

The Indian teenager, who dished out eight aces in the match, pulled off some delicate net play to win back the advantage and force the tie-breaker which she clinched 7/4