Sania storms into semis

Sania Mirza upset top seed Vera Zvonareva of Russia in a thrilling three-setter to storm into the semi-finals of the 170,000 AIG Japan Open tennis championship here today.

Seeded eight in this tier III event, Sania fought her way back after conceding the first set to carve out a 5-7, 6-2, 6-4 win against the 22-ranked Russian in two hours 28 minutes.

The win fetched the Indian, placed 37th on the WTA rankings, a semi-final date with third seed Tatiana Golovin of France who won 3-6, 6-2, 6-2 against local favourite and fifth seed Ai Sugiyama in the quarter-finals.

Sania broke Zvonareva twice in the opening set, but each time surrendered the advantage on her own serve before hitting an easy overhead into the net at 30-40 in the 12th game to lose the set. But she rallied in the second and third sets, firing her forehands on both sides of the court for a series of winners and never allowing Zvonareva to go up.