When the going got tough, she

From the very first serve she faced 8212; measured at 189 kmph 8212; Sania Mirza knew this would be no ordinary encounter. As her racket c...

From the very first serve she faced 8212; measured at 189 kmph 8212; Sania Mirza knew this would be no ordinary encounter. As her racket connected with the ball, Sania winced, completed her stroke, then blew into her hand to reduce the sting.

Most other players would have been steamrolled by Serena from that point on but the way Sania fought back, especially in the second set, raising her game to match the quality of her opponent, was the most striking feature of an absorbing encounter.

The first set saw a jittery Sania simply watch in awe as the six-time Grand Slam winner held centrestage. Her response was muted with flashes of brilliance. Such as the ace in the fourth game of the first set and a forehand crosscourt winner down 15-30 in the next game that left Serena rooted.

Serena retaliated as she knew best, ratcheting up the power on her serves, cranking out the aces, exposing Sania8217;s lack of agility and weak backhand. The match, just 20 minutes old, began drifting out of Sania8217;s reach, aided by the poor rate of successful first serves. The one-sided nature was defined in one significant statistic: Sania8217;s poor first serve percentage of 33 and 10 unforced errors.

The first set lost 6-1, Sania stopped to take stock and rework strategy. As she later said, she didn8217;t want to be another of those steamrolled by Serena. First she ensured she hung in, went for the balls, adjusted her placement on the baseline while receiving Serena and, most importantly, got her first serves in. She had 62 percent of her first serves in, approached the net as many times as Serena and had zero double faults.

She won the first game, a psychological boost as it meant she would lead the set-score. Her best was saved for the fourth game, on Serena8217;s serve. Superbly placed backhands and forehands gave her a chance to break but Serena played the big points well to hold on. From 2-2 to 3-3, Sania deployed her one big weapon, the forehand, which she says was modelled on Steffi Graf.

Time and again her forehand winners proved just that. In fact, the 8220;give it all attitude,8221; saw her gain in confidence as Serena for once began to up her game 8211; a fact evident in the 9th game. Down two match points, Sania sent Serena the wrong way with superbly punched forehands.

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But eventually the crutial 7th game break proved decisive, as Serena closed out wth Sania beginning from where she left off8230;barely making it to the ball.