Sania Mirza advanced to the third round of the US Open with a on Thursday over US veteran Laura Granville, booking a revenge match against Anna Chakvetadze.
Beats Laura Granville to set up a third round clash with nemesis Chakvetadze
NEW YORK: India's Sania Mirza advanced to the third round of the US Open with a 6-3 7-5 victory on Thursday over US veteran Laura Granville, booking a revenge match against Russian nemesis Anna Chakvetadze.
Mirza, seeded 26th, blasted six aces and 33 winners past the 60th-ranked American but the 20-year-old prodigy made 33 unforced errors and let two match points slip through her hands before finishing off Granville after 82 minutes.
"In the second set she started playing a lot better. It was just a good match. She is a really good player," Mirza said. "I'm happy where I am but I would like to be a little further up. I'm just taking it one match at a time. I'm quite happy with how I'm playing."
Mirza next faces sixth seed Chakvetadze, who has won four tournaments this year, three of them after beating Mirza. Chakvetadze advanced by ousting Australian veteran Nicole Pratt 6-3 6-4 in 72 minutes.
The Russian ousted Mirza in a Hobart semi-final in January and defeated her again last month in a Cincinnati semi-final and the final at Stanford. Granville broke Mirza to open the match but Mirza answered by breaking back in the next game. They held serve until Mirza hit a forehand volley winner for a break and a 4-2 lead, then screamed with delight and pumped her right fist.
The joy was short lived as Granville broke back in the seventh game but the American double faulted to surrender a break in the eighth game and Mirza took the set on a forehand winner after 36 minutes.
Mirza and Granville again traded breaks to open the second set, but Granville surrendered her next two service games as well,n etting a forehand in the third game and pushing a backhand wide in the fifth. Granville broke back in the sixth game but Mirza was serving for the set with a 5-4 lead and had two match points when disaster struck.
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