Sania romps into final

Sania Mirza overcame a tough challenge from Austria8217;s Sybille Bammer to book a berth in the final of the Bank of the West Classic tournament.

Sania Mirza overcame a tough challenge from Austria8217;s Sybille Bammer to book a berth in the final of the Bank of the West Classic tournament. In a hard-fought three-setter yesterday, Sania, playing her first semi-final at a Tier II event, notched up a brilliant 6-2, 5-7, 6-3 win against the Austrian.

This victory, which helped the Indian ace reach her first tour final in two years, is likely to take Sania into the top 30 of world ranking for the first time in her career. In today8217;s final, Sania will take on top-seeded and seventh ranked Anna Chakvetadze of Russia, who rallied to beat third-seeded Daniela Hantuchova of Slovakia 6-7 6, 6-3, 6-2 in the other semi-final clash.

Double delight was in store for Sania yesterday. Playing as third seeds, the Hyderabadi and her Israeli partner Shahar Peer defeated Hsieh Su-wei of Taiwan and Alla Kudryavtseva of Russia 6-3, 6-4 to reach the doubles final as well.

However, her valiant effort to make the singles final brought more cheers for Sania and the Indian No. 1 attributed the success to her mental strength. 8220;I started to feel tired late in the second set, then I regrouped. It was all mental. I told myself to hang in there,8221; she said after the gruelling encounter. Sania bagged the first set in quick time. But after that Bammer fought back and the match became a clash of intelligence and stamina.

With neither player willing to concede anything, the second set became an exciting affair with six of the first eight points coming as break points. However, Bammer prevailed over Sania to draw parity and stretch the match to third set. In the decider, the 35th-ranked Indian got a crucial break at 3-3 which ultimately propelled her to victory despite late defiance from Bammer.

The 22nd-ranked Bammer admitted that Sania played better to come out trumps. 8220;It was a close match but she played a little better today. She played very fast, took a lot of risks and that did not allow me to play my game.8221;

Earlier in the tournament, Sania had defeated sixth-seeded Tatiana Golovin and fourth-seeded Patty Schnyder. It was the first time that she beat two top-20 players in the same tournament.