Sania crashes out in Tokyo

Second seed Sania Mirza crashed out of the $175,000 Japan Open in Tokyo after a straight set loss to Italian Flavia Pennetta in the quarter finals today. The Indian ace went down 4-6, 4-6 to the eighth seeded Italian in her first tournament after recovering from a wrist injury.

Pennetta will now take on fifth seed Virginie Razzano of France in the semi-finals. Sania’s doubles campaign in the WTA tier III event also came to an end after she and her American partner Christina Fusano gave a walkover to the second seeded Chinese pair of Tiantian Sun and Zi Yan in the quarter finals.

Top-seed Venus Williams overcame some early errors to defeat Alicia Molik and advance to the semi-finals. Williams downed Molik 7-6 (7-4), 6-3 to set up a semi-final showdown with Denmark’s Caroline Wozniacki.