Sania Mirza Tournaments -2014

[Tolamu]

I will be there for the 7:30pm-ish start of Sania's first match in a year-end championship!!

Williams vs Bouchard match starts (not before) 7.30pm. Sania's match follows next. So, you can watch both. Happy viewing and happy diwali.

[Omkara]

Finally some good writing on Sania Mirza

[Tolamu]

Sania/Cara beat Raquel Kops-Jones/Abigail Spears in an agonisingly close match 6-3 2-6 12-10 to move into SF.

[vatsal323]

Sania and Cara were 9-5 up in the decider,before going down 9-10 and then finally pulled things back.

[PKBasu]

I was there for the exhilarating match. Sania was sublime, especially with her service returns, in the first set. The opponents tended to serve to her backhand, and she invariably came up with blistering returns; on the few occasions that they served to her forehand, she responded with breathtaking returns. Cara was superb with her touch and volleys, but the first set was all Sania. It was close until the first service break, but our pair finished it off with a second service break to take it 6-3 (opponents having served first).

Unfortunately, our pair were broken in the first game of the second set (for the first time in the match), and failed to hold serve at all in the second set. Although they broke back once, it was simply not enough as they went down rather tamely in that second set -- in which nothing went right, and the opponents cranked it up, especially with their stronger serves.

In the super-tiebreaker, our pair took an early 3-0 lead (to which I responded from the crowd "teen-shunya; shunya-hi rehne do"!), then made it 6-3, but let the other pair get back to 6-5 -- before we blazed to 9-5, but failed to convert on any of those four match-points (two on Sania's serve, two on the opponents'). Then the opponents had a match-point at 10-9, failed to convert, and some great stroke play from Sania (on Cara's service games) helped to clinch it 12-10.

It was fun lending my full-throated support to Sania after a long time. It was an absolute pleasure to see her play!

[PKBasu]

Errani/Vinci play tomorrow against Peschke/Srebotnik. The winner of that match meets Mirza/Black in the SF.

[PKBasu]

Sania's SF will be the evening match tomorrow. Fair enough, as the winner of today's QF deserves a bit of extra rest rather than being pitchforked into the SF in the afternoon.

[PKBasu]

Sania/Cara will play Srebotnik/Peschke in that second semifinal tomorrow! Top-seeded Errani/Vinci conceded at 1-2 in the first set, because of an injury to Errani. Apparently she was ill with some abdominal infection, and tried getting better before the match but couldn't quite.
Regardless, this is very good news for Sania/Cara, as the one team they have struggled against all year (except for one victory!) is Errani/Vinci. They have beaten Peschke/Srebotnik the one time they played them this year. So the chances look good in the SF!!

[jaydeep]

Sania-Cara save 2 (or 3?) match points in super tie-break ... From 7-9 (from here I started to follow) they won next four points for entering into the final ... So excellent comeback win by Sania-cara and they will face 2nd seed Peng-Hsieh for the title.

We will wait for more detail report from PKB.

At $6.5M BNP Paribas WTA FINALS 2014, Singapore

[SF] (3) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Cara Black (ZIM) bt Kveta Peschke (CZE)/ Katarina Srebotnik (SLO) 46 75 11-9<

[F] (3) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Cara Black (ZIM) vs (2) Shuai Peng (CHN)/ Su-Wei Hsieh (TPE)

[sameerph]

Superb performance by Sania and Cara to reach the final of the WTA final. Another feather in Sania's cap as she has just about achieved everything this year except for a grand slam womens doubles title. Up against the defending champs now. We will await report from PKB.

[PKBasu]

Tonight Sania played an absolutely stupendous match. Her serving was impeccable -- and, in fact, was a big weapon today (she served 3 aces in her first two service games, including 2 in the first to get back from two break-points down -- which had been caused by a couple of volley errors by Cara). Sania's ground-strokes were even more breathtaking, invariably were bullet-fast and frequently were beautifully-angled winners. Her volleying was a revelation, especially at some of the vital turning points in the match.

And Sania really needed to be exceptional, because Cara Black was completely off-colour -- with even her volleying deserting her for most of the match, and the weakness of her serve being thoroughly exposed. Cara's serve was broken in each of her first three service games (and, if I remember right, even on her fourth service game). It was a huge relief when Cara finally held serve on the fifth attempt. Our pair were down 2-5 early in the first set, and got one of the breaks back but couldn't do more than that to lose it 4-6.

In the second set, our pair broke in the fifth game, but were broken back in the 10th game (when serving for the set), but then managed to squeeze it out 7-5 through some absolutely breathtaking clutch play by Sania -- and steadier play by Cara in clutch situations.

Our pair were down in the STB right from the first point (when Sania's serve was returned like a bullet by Srebotnik, whose power was the other feature of the match). From what I can recall, it was 1-4 early on, and 2-5. Our pair were able to claw back to 5-5 and made it 6-6 (with some great serving by Sania), but then were down 6-9 -- giving the opponents three match-points. Sania and Cara played exceptionally well on the next four points. The point on Cara's serve that made it 10-9 was Sania (at the net) all the way with some utterly breathtaking stroke-making and a gorgeous final placement that had us simply bowing in awe. It was match-point for our pair at 10-9, but the opponents were serving; Cara did well to keep the ball in play with some deft defence, and finished it off in style with a well-placed volley. But what a match by Sania!! Everybody who saw her play was in absolute awe!

Sania's ground-strokes are the very best in the women's game -- especially the forehand, which was a fantastic weapon throughout today's match. In the previous round, the backhand service returns were superb too, and here again she showed that her backhand is a consistently strong weapon, and so is her volley. With even her serve working so well, I simply lament the fact that Sania doesn't play singles any more. (I lament it, but I also remember that she required three surgeries, and 5-6 long injury breaks, in the 5 years she played top-100 singles -- so her decision to focus on doubles was absolutely the right one; if she wins a Slam or two in women's doubles next year, I hope that she will give singles one last shot in 2016, perhaps using the Olympics as the excuse!).

[punarayan]

PKBasu, Thanks for a superb summary of the proceedings in your backyard! I got to see it broadcast live and Sania made one proud. She might not be the prototype double player, but she brings her brand of it, to great effect. Her deft volleys were quite surprising, including that forehand which is still jaw dropping after watching it all these years. I only wish she gets to the net and not leave so much real estate to cover between the net and the baseline. But, this works for her and why change a good thing! Hope you get to see the finals tomorrow.

[punekar]

PKBasu, Thanks for a superb summary of the proceedings in your backyard! I got to see it broadcast live and Sania made one proud. She might not be the prototype double player, but she brings her brand of it, to great effect. Her deft volleys were quite surprising, including that forehand which is still jaw dropping after watching it all these years. I only wish she gets to the net and not leave so much real estate to cover between the net and the baseline. But, this works for her and why change a good thing! Hope you get to see the finals tomorrow.

I don't think Ten Sports in India is going to show the doubles. They will only show the Singles Final

[sameerph]

Yes, it is a shame that there will be no live telecast of the match in India. Does anyone have a live streaming link ?

[punekar]

All over. Sania and Cara thrash the No. 2 seeds to win the title in just under an hour.

[F] (3) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Cara Black (ZIM) bt (2) Shuai Peng (CHN)/ Su-Wei Hsieh (TPE) 6-1 6-0