Friday 9th February

by Barry Wood

A strong fightback against third seeded Italian Mara Santangelo earned Sania Mirza a place in the semi-finals of the Pattaya Open on Friday.

The fifth seeded Indian eventually through 6-4 7-6 (4), after she was down 4-1 in the first set and Santangelo served for the second set at 5-3.

"It was the first time I had played her in singles or doubles and I was just trying to figure how she plays and get my rhythm," said Mirza. "It took me a little time, but I felt much better on the court and was moving better than a couple of days ago.

"I had a little serve trouble but thankfully I got the serves when I needed them. Both sets I was down, but I felt I started playing better when I was down. She has a really big serve but I started returning better, and that was a key in the tiebreak I think."

Saying she was having trouble with her serve was an understatement, as she dropped her first two service games with double-faults and she also double-faulted on game point when down 4-1 before eventually holding. But once she settled, Mirza hit the ball cleanly and always looked the more likely to claim victory.

Shuai Peng is seeded four, and she duly beat the unseeded Israeli Tzipora Obziler 6-3 6-2. A good effort, bearing in mind that she has been struggling with a cough.

"That's why I retired first round in doubles, to save my energy for singles. It's getting better but I feel my body is not yet 100 percent," she reported. "It's really difficult because I cannot drink cold water and I have to keep my body warm. I didn't feel like I have 100 percent energy, but I feel better every day and I'm really happy I got to the semi-final. "The heat is really hard because where I come from in China my hometown is very cold and they have snow there. But I just played my game. I hit the ball hard and tried to make her run."

Gisela Dulko is from Argentina and seeded sixth, and she ended the impressive run of Aussie Nicole Pratt in a straightforward manner, winning 6-2 6-3. Sybille Bammer's 3-6 6-3 6-3 win over Martina Sucha was anything but straightforward.

The Austrian had never beaten Sucha in five previous attempts, and it took just under three hours, there were 42 break points and 34 deuces, and the match gave a new meaning to the phrase 'grinding it out'. She certainly worked for her money.

In the semi-finals, Bammer plays Peng and Mirza faces Dulko.