Bangalore, Feb 14: Sania Mirza moved into the pre-quarterfinals of the Sony Ericsson International tonight after winning her first round match against the experienced Slovak Martina Sucha 6-4, 4-6, 6-3.In a match that lasted little more than two hours, Sania, ranked 46, was kept on her toes by the 26-year-old Sucha, who had advanced to her first quarter-finals of the year at Pattaya last week.
"It's difficult playing here in Bangalore at altitudes of 1000, 1200," said the second seeded Sania after failing to muster enough confidence to hold her serve in the second set. Sania dropped four games in the second set as Sucha forced the match into the decider.
Sania did appear to be tensed then and took a toilet break which did her a world of good. "It was only then that things started working for me as I began to swing a lot and played to my strength and had fun," said Sania of that break after the match.
In the third set, the unseeded Sucha was broken continuously by Sania in the third, fifth, seventh and ninth games as the discerning enjoyed each and every moment of the young Indian's power play.
"I've made lot of changes to my game and it has started working. I've matured as a person and as a tennis player," Sania aptly summed up her game.
How much of it will translate into her winning the title here? "I'm concentrating on one match at a time and even in that match, one point at a time," reacted Saniam who will bump into Tatiana Pouchek of Belarus for a place in the quarter-finals tomorrow.
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