The Hindu : Sport / Tennis : Sania Mirza makes a winning start

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Wednesday, Aug 08, 2007
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Sania Mirza makes a winning start

Hewitt bests Ferrero in a battle of the former world number ones

— Photo: AP

PLAYING WELL: Lleyton Hewitt’s greater consistency helped him get past Juan Carlos Ferrero in the Rogers Cup tournament on Monday.

Carson: India’s Sania Mirza celebrated her move into the top 30 in the world rankings with a first-round triumph over Alexsandra Wozniak in the WTA East West Bank Classic here on Monday.

Mirza, 20, completed the opening day of play at the Home Depot Center with a 6-3, 6-2 victory over Canadian qualifier Wozniak.

However, an uphill task lies ahead of the Indian, who will meet seventh seed Martina Hingis of Switzerland in the next round. The Swiss got a bye in the first round.

Austrian Sybille Bammer, who broke into the top 20 in the rankings on Monday at No. 20, also advanced, defeating American Laura Granville 6-4, 6-2.

Golovin retires

France’s Tatiana Golovin, however, saw her campaign come to a premature halt as she retired from her match against Thailand’s Tamarine Tanasugarn after dropping the first set 7-5 with a right hamstring strain.

It was another blow for the 19-year-old, who battled an ankle injury earlier this year.

“I probably shouldn’t have even gone on the court,” said Golovin.

First round byes

The top eight seeds, led by world No. 2 Maria Sharapova, have first-round byes.

Sharapova is seeking her second title in as many weeks, having launched her preparation for her U.S. Open title defence with a victory at San Diego.

Greater consistency

Meanwhile at the Rogers Masters in Montreal, Lleyton Hewitt won the battle of the former world number ones by beating Spaniard Juan Carlos Ferrero 7-6, 6-4 to reach the second round.

The Australian, ranked four places below Ferrero at number 21, prevailed in one hour 47 minutes.

In his first outing since Wimbledon, where he reached the fourth round, Hewitt’s greater consistency helped him get past Ferrero, who has shown signs lately of regaining his best form.

After trading an early break of serve, the rest of the first set went with service before Hewitt surged ahead 6-3 in the tiebreak then clinched the set 7-5. The Australian broke in the first game of the second set and, despite a couple of nervous moments, held the advantage to reach the second round.

“I probably took, maybe, not even a week off after Wimbledon and started hitting balls again, getting into it, in the gym every day,” Hewitt told reporters.

Solid efforts

After winning the title in Las Vegas in March, Hewitt was hampered by niggling injuries for the next two months, but bounced back with a semifinal appearance in Hamburg and solid fourth-round efforts at the French Open and Wimbledon.

“Indian Wells and Miami (in March) were frustrating because I was playing well going into those events,” he said. “Winning Vegas, I felt like I was starting to turn it around again.”

Berdych ousted

Earlier, Tomas Berdych was the first seeded casualty, the Czech 10th seed losing 6-4, 7-5 to 20-year-old Dutchman Robin Haase.

The results:

At Carson: WTA East West Bank Classic: First round: Sybille Bammer bt Laura Granville 6-4, 6-2; Lucie Safarova bt Olga Poutchkova 7-5, 6-2; Michaella Krajicek bt Severine Bremond 6-3, 6-1; Kateryna Bondarenko bt Angelique Kerber 7-5, 6 -1; Gisela Dulko bt Sun Tiantian 7-5, 6-4; Madison Brengle bt Flavia Pennetta 6-1, 6-4; Tamarine Tanasugarn bt Tatiana Golovin 7-5, retd.; Yuliana Fedak bt Alona Bondarenko 1-6, 6-2, 6-3; Jill Craybas bt Alla Kudryavtseva 7-5, 6-3; Olga Govortsova (BLR) bt Julia Vakulenko (UKR) 6-0, 6-3; Ashley Harkleroad bt Jamea Jackson 6-4, 6-1; Sania Mirza bt Aleksandra Wozniak 6-3, 6-2; Virginie Razzano bt Yan Zi 6-4, 7-5; Maria Kirilenko bt Elena Bovina 7-6(8), 6-3.

At Montreal: ATP Rogers Cup: First round: Robin Haase bt Tomas Berdych 6-4, 7-5; David Ferrer bt Ernests Gulbis 6-2, 6-1; Lleyton Hewitt bt Juan Carlos Ferrero 7-6(5), 6-4; Stanislas Wawrinka bt Lee Hyung-taik 6-3, 3-6, 6-1; Michael Ru ssell bt Nicolas Almagro 2-6, 7-6(5), 6-3; David Nalbandian bt Alejandro Falla 6-4, 6-3; Dominik Hrbaty bt Philip Kohlschreiber 7-6(6), 6-4; Wayne Odesnik bt Ivan Ljubicic 6-3, 4-6, 7-6(5); Fabio Fognini bt Peter Polansky 6-3, 7-6(7); Paul-Henri Mathieu bt Guillermo Canas 4-6, 7-5, 6-0; Mikhail Youzhny bt Sebastien Grosjean 6-2, 6-4; Frank Dancevic bt Juan Del Potro 6-4, 3-6, 6-3. — Agencies

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