Tennis Update: Australian Open 2011- The dreadful ending after a brilliant start for Mirza against Henin
The 24 seeded Sania Mirza slipped to 145th position in the overall WTA ranking after her chronic wrist injury last year but her determination was vigilant in the qualifiers where she beat the Canadian Stephanie Dubois in straight sets 6-2 and
6-3 last Sunday to qualify for the 2011 Australian Open.
But it was a bigger platform following to the qualifying round as she had to face the former world number one Justine Henin in her opening match in the 2011 Australian Open.
Henin, the seven-time Grand Slam champion, was a tough task for the 24-year-old Indian. "I couldn't have imagined a tougher opponent than Justine in the main draw," Sania, who had played most of the top guns on the women’s Tour, said.
"She is a great player, has huge experience, she is one of the greats of the game. I have nothing to lose. I'll go out there and enjoy the match. I'm looking forward to playing her."
However, having nothing to lose, Sania started the game with full swing and after having a terrific start as she led the first set 3-1, it was Justine Henin who took control of the game having beat Sania in her furious smashes. Sania showed rather splendid
wells of resolve in the Hisense Arena to regain control.
Henin, who is currently world number 13, struggled in the first set and even the short rain delay when she was one game down, didn’t change the flow of the set as Sania marked it to her name.
The game turned into a humdinger and sustained a whole lot of 55 minutes before Sania tore apart the Belgian tennis star and went on to win the rather epic opening set 7-5.
The seven-time grand slam winner and 2004 Australian Open champion, Henin jumped out of the pack after the defeat in the first set and gained the lead in the second with 5-3. Sania struggled hard, kept her nerves to the game, and made certain that she doesn’t
let Henin through the set by holding the advantage twice at one stage.
Nevertheless, Henin was equally determined and after a double attempt, she succeeded in turning the advantage to a game point and levelled it up at one set all with a 6-3 win.
There was not much that Sania could do after the revival of the world number 11 and Henin didn’t give away any chances what so ever to the Indian tennis star. The third set pretty much went one-sided as it all went a touch pear-shaped for Sania Mirza in
less than half an hour at the Hisense Arena slipping to a 3-1 down in the final set.
The Belgian cruised through the deciding set to progress into the second round of the 2011 Australian Open with 5-7, 6-3, and 6-1 in a doozy of a tie after a game that lasted 2 hours 12 minutes over-all.
Justine Henin will now go on to face one of Briton’s top tennis stars, Elena Baltacha.
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