Sania Mirza surprises Irina Falconi to clear the opening qualifier – Sony Ericsson Open 2012
Indian tennis starlet, Sania Mirza, pulled out an upset in the opening qualifier of the Sony Ericsson Open by outplaying the 18th seed local contestant, Irina Falconi, on Monday. The unseeded Mirza took one hour and
18 minutes to root out the 21-year-old American in straight sets, 7-6(4), 6-0, to move into the final round of the qualifying draw.
Being a part of the WTA (Women’s Tennis Association) Premier Mandatory events, the contest was staged on the outdoor hard courts of the Tennis Center at Crandon Park in Miami, USA. The 127th ranked Indian was not expected
to take down the superior-ranked Falconi in the contest but it was her sheer determination and hard work which brought victory to her in the end. She went through a gruelling opening set but eventually pocketed it in the tie-breaker round to get one up. Once
getting her eye set in the match, Mirza went absolutely berserk in the following set, breaking her opponent in every serve game to rocket away to victory with a bagel set.
Mirza delivered 68 per cent of her first serve on target, belting two aces and coughing four double faults on it. She clinched 26 out of 38 first serve points and converted six of her 10 break points to take the better of Falconi,
who could only register three serve breaks in the entire match to finish on the losing side.
The opening set of the match witnessed an exchange of six break points from both sides. The two competitors battled extremely hard to gain the early advantage in the match but it was the unseeded Indian beauty that prevailed in
the decisive tie-breaker round to seal the opener 7-6(4). She shifted to her rage mode in the following set and went on for a six-game rampage to stamp her authority over the game. She nailed three successive break points to register an emphatic victory at
6-0.
Mirza will take on the 10th seeded local competitor, Sloane Stephens, in the qualifying competition of the Sony Ericsson Open on Tuesday. Stephens was victorious against the wildcard entrant from the Netherlands, Indy
de Vroome, in the opening round.
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