Sania Mirza crashes out in second round

Sania Mirza crashed out of Wimbledon in the second round, losing 6-4 6-4 to Romanian number 28 seed Sorana Cirstea on Wednesday.

Sania was able to break her friend’s serve but hit far more unforced errors than the French Open quarterfinalist. Cirstea faces Belarussian number eight seed Victoria Azarenka in the third round. Sania and Cirstea are firm friends off the court but showed plenty of combative spirit on it.

The first set on Court 12 was a tight contest but Romanian number one Cirstea held serve to go 5-3 up, leaving Sania serving to stay in the set. The Indian hit the net to give her opponent set point but brought it back to deuce with some gutsy shots and well-placed lobs under pressure.

Though she won the game, Cirstea had three set points in the next one and won it with a backhand winner down the line.

The Romanian broke in the first game of the second set with another backhand winner, but Sania hit straight back in the next game, with Cirstea even running into the back wall in her bid to retain her serve.

The world number 85 held serve for a 3-1 lead but Cirstea broke on deuce as the Indian lost her footing. Sania hit the net in frustration at a line call as Cirstea levelled it at 3-3.

The next two games went with serve but Cirstea broke to leave her serving for the match at 5-4. Sania shot long to give her opponent victory in an hour and 12 minutes. Though Sania won all 11 points she played at the net and hit 26 winners to Cirstea’s 18, she made 30 unforced errors to the seed’s nine. Cirstea’s next opponent, Azarenka, beat Romania’s Ioana Raluca Olaru 6-0 6-0.