US Open: Sania loses, Paes-Bhupathi, Bopanna-Qureshi advance
August 31st, 2011 - 12:05 pm ICT by IANS
New York, Aug 31 (IANS) India’s Sania Mirza lost a thrilling women’s singles first round match while compatriots Leander Peas and Mahesh Bhupathi along with Rohan Bopanna and his Pakistan partner Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi entered the second round of the men’s doubles in the US Open Tennis Championships.
Playing in a packed court 17, Sania and her former doubles partner Shahar Peer engaged themselves in a fierce baseline exchange before the 23rd-seeded Israeli prevailed in the latter stages of the match to win 6-7(5), 6-3, 6-1 after more than a two-hour see-saw battle Tuesday. It was Peer’s second win over Sania in their six meetings.
The Israeli was quick to take a 3-1 lead in the first set but Sania, with her blistering returns of serve, broke back to enforce a tie-breaker.
The 64th-ranked Indian again trailed in the tie-breaker but soon levelled the scores at 5-5 with a down-the-line-forehand shot. Two points later, a forehand error from Peer gave Sania the opening set.
The Indian, however, slumped to errors and her first-serve percentage, too, dropped drastically. She hit five double faults and 19 unforced errors in the second set. A missed forehand passing shot gave Peer a 4-2 lead and even though Sania did well to fend off two set points at 5-2 and 5-3, she could not stop Peer from making it a set all.
The Indian then fizzled out in the decider and Peer sprinted to a 4-0 lead before closing the set and the match.
In the men’s doubles, fourth-seeded Paes and Bhupathi saw off a stiff fight from Alexandr Dolgopolov of Ukraine and Albert Ramos of Spain to prevail 7-6(8), 6-4 in the first round. They now await the winner of the match between Florian Mayer of Germany and Rogier Wassen of the Netherlands and Frenchmen Marc Gicquel and Gael Monfils.
The fifth-seeded and last year’s finalists Bopanna and Qureshi, too, survived a few anxious moments before pulling off a 6-1, 2-6, 6-2 victory over Americans Robby Ginepri and Rhyne Williams in the opening round.
They now play the winner of the match between Americans Travis Parrott and Bobby Reynolds and James Cerretani of the US and Philipp Marx of Germany.
- Bhupathi-Bopanna knocked out of Australian Open (Lead) - Jan 22, 2012
- Paes-Bhupathi and Bopanna-Qureshi in quarterfinals - Aug 19, 2011
- Bhupathi-Bopanna shocked in French Open first round - May 31, 2012
- Bhupathi-Bopanna reach quarters of Dubai Open - Mar 01, 2012
- Bopanna-Qureshi crash out of US Open men's doubles semis - Sep 10, 2011
- US Open: Leander enters mixed doubles quarters - Sep 03, 2011
- Bhupathi, Bopanna in semi-finals of Chennai Open - Jan 06, 2012
- Paes-Bhupathi advance in Beijing, Bopanna-Qureshi exit in Tokyo - Oct 05, 2011
- Bopanna-Qureshi lose to Llodra-Zimonjoc - Nov 22, 2011
- Paes-Stepanek beat Marrero-Verdasco, meet Bryan brothers in semis - Mar 29, 2012
- Bopanna-Qureshi lose in semi-finals of Indian Wells - Mar 18, 2011
- Australian Open: Paes-Stepanek, Sania-Bhupathi in semis (Roundup) - Jan 25, 2012
- Australian Open: Sania in quarters of doubles and mixed event - Jan 23, 2012
- US Open: Bopanna-Qureshi storm into quarters; Sania-Vesnia crash out - Sep 05, 2011
- Rogers Cup: Sania falters at final qualifying round - Aug 08, 2011
Tags: anxious moments, compatriots, decider, double faults, florian mayer, frenchmen, gael monfils, latter stages, mahesh bhupathi, marc gicquel, open tennis championships, robby ginepri, rogier wassen, rohan bopanna, sania mirza, shahar peer, tie breaker, unforced errors, us open tennis, us open tennis championships