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The7AM.com : Sports news – Sania-Maria storm into second round: “Dubai: Sania Mirza and her new partner Maria Vento-Kabchi of Venezuela stormed into the doubles second round of the USD 1 million Dubai Duty Free Women’s Open tennis tournament here on Thursday.

The Indo-Venezuelan duo got the better of Russian pair of Maria Kirilenko and Anastasia Myskina in straight sets 6-3 6-4 in the first round of the WTA Tier II touranment.

They will next play Kveta Peschke of Czech Republic and Francesca Schiavone of Italy for a semifinal berth.

Sania, who played with a heavily strapped elbow, maintained her composure and was well-aided by Maria against the nimble footed Russian girls for a comfortable looking score.
The 36th ranked Indian, however, has indicated that her right elbow, which was troubling her since Bangalore Open, where she won the doubled title last week, may keep her from participating in the next week’s Qatar Total Open in Doha. “

DUBAI — Now that she has some time on her hands, India’s tennis heartthrob Sania Mirza plans on getting some shopping done. “Every time I come here, I empty my purse,” said a slightly giggly Sania on Tuesday.

When asked if she’s decided what she’s going shopping for, the world No.38 said she “never decides” in advance. “I’ll probably go buy clothes, shoes, bags. And of course, something for my family.”

When it was pointed out that she’s still in the doubles draw, Sania said: “Then I won’t be emptying my purse just yet.”Not too upset: “I was excited about coming back to Dubai but unfortunately I ran into Martina (Hingis) in the first round,” said Sania, the 19-year-old from the land of the Nizams.

That first round clash was the first time they had ever played each other.

“To be honest, I think I played a great match. Martina had to work for every point. I learned a few things by playing against her.

“She’s one of the greats of tennis. She doesn’t go boom-boom on every ball. She just counter punches and keeps the ball in play. It was good to have the crowd behind me and I think they enjoyed the match,” she added.Sell-out crowd: It was probably for the first time that a first-round match of the Dubai Duty Free women’s championship had a sell-out crowd.

The atmosphere was electric as the crowd tried to pump up Sania past a smiling Hingis.

At one point some one in the crowd shouted ‘out’ when the ball was clearly in and Ms Mirza had to go and clarify that point with the chair umpire. Some instructions were even shouted out to the Hyderabad youngster in ‘Urdu’ so that the Swiss Miss wouldn’t understand what was going on. From the amount of attraction the Mirza-Hingis tie drew, it could have been a final rather than just another first-round match.Not nervous: “It wasn’t the greatest match I’ve played,” said Martina Hingis, flashing big smiles, at her post-match conference. Just happy to get through.”

Did a very partisan crowd unnerve her?

“I’ve got used to that. I’m not nervous about going on court anymore. I just have to remember I’m not 18 anymore. I have to adjust my game for my age.”

Her thoughts on her young opponent? “She’s young. She will learn. She has a strong forehand and some good cross-court shots. She needs to keep the ball in play more instead of going for outright winners.”

Pulling power: Sania Mirza pulling power was very much in evidence yesterday. Court number three was packed to watch the Indian star and her partner Maria Vento-Kabchi of Venezuala beat the highly-fancied Russians Fed Cup pairing of Maria Kirilenko and Anastasia Myskina.

The crowd went home very satisfied, knowing that they would get the chance to see Sania play another day.

Yesterday Ms Mirza did not wear the elbow guard she sported in her singles match against Martina Hingis.

And that may be due to the quality time the Indian enjoyed at Dubai’s new Akaru Spa earlier in the day. At the invitation of the Dubai Open, Sania was treated to reflexology of the hands and feet before her doubles match.

That treatment seems to have worked wonders for the Hyderabadi youngster.The centre court was packed again for the second night running as Maria Sharapova played some classy tennis against her Russian compatriot Vera Dushina. Tuesday night’s crowd was noisy and boisterous.

Yesterday it was more like a normal tennis arena; with fans gently clapping when necessary.

The7AM.com : Tennis news – Sania moves up to 36th spot: “New Delhi: Sania Mirza’s fortunes continued to fluctuate and after dropping six places last week, the Indian ace moved up two rungs to 36th in the latest WTA rankings issued on Monday.

Sania has 537.75 ranking points and the improvement in the standings follows the doubles win at the Bangalore Open on Sunday. The 19-year-old Hyderabadi is still ahead of Serena Williams who languishes at the 44th spot with 488 points.

Isha Lakhani was the biggest gainer, moving up from 488 to 388 with 44 points. The U.S.-based Shikha Uberoi went one place up to 161 with 171.75.

The Bhambri sisters, Ankita and Sanaa, were at the 359th and 460th positions respectively. Sanaa made some improvement from last week, jumping five places with 31.25 points. Shruti Dhawan also went up five places to 503.

Kim Clijsters (3566 points) leads the pack, followed by Australian Open champion Amelie Mauresmo (3435). Switzerland’s Martina Hingis, making a comeback after a long injury lay-off, dropped two places to finish 50th.”

The7AM.com : Tennis news – Sania row: Pairing with Israeli risky: “New Delhi: Sania Mirza doesn’t want to ruffle any more feathers.

After the controversy over her dress code, the 19-year-old tennis star has refused to pair up with Israeli tennis player Shahar Pe’er in the doubles tournament of the Dubai Open for fear of violent protests by India’s Islamic community.

Mirza initially agreed to play with Pe’er, but later retracted, telling Pe’er that, ‘It’s best that we don’t play together this time to prevent protests against my cooperation with an Israeli. There is no reason to arouse the ire of the Indian Muslims.’

Sania had been embroiled in a controversy where she was chastised by Muslim groups in India for wearing a sleeveless top and a mini-skirt during her matches.

The two players did not pair up at the Australian Open in January for the same reason.Pe’er’s coach, Oded Yaakov, said ‘It is understandable that Mirza would not want to ignite the protestors against her once again. The situation in India is sensitive as it is. However, I would like to believe that she will be willing to cooperate with Shahar in the future.’

Sania Mirza is ranked 39 in world Tennis. She lost in the first round of the Dubai Open to Martina Hingis, on Tuesday.

She played with a strapped right elbow as she went down to the five-time Grand Slam champion Hingis 3-6 5-7 yesterday.

The injury, which she sustained while playing the Bangalore Open, may lead her to pull out of the Doha Open that begins on February 27.”