Sania bows out of pacific life open

Troubled by a painful wrist, Indian tennis ace Sania Mirza fell 6-1 7-6 (4) to defending champion Daniela Hantuchova in the pre-quarterfinals of the Pacific Life Open in Indian Wells on Tuesday. The 21-year-old Hyderabadi’s failure to cash in on a handful of game points set the players apart in the first set. Sania was a trifle defensive on the big points, which cost her dear. The striking Indian was up 40-0 on two of her service games (second and fourth) and 15-40 on the Slovakian’s serve in two other games of the set, but conceded the advantage in each of those games. In the second set, Sania started going for more and with greater consistency, but hurt her wrist at 3-2 when she played two forehands late. There on it was a struggle for the Indian with her forehand and serve against an opponent, who gives little away. Sania missed a couple of game points and the chance totake a 5-3 lead. The elegant Slovakian then broke in the 11th game, when her opponent double faulted, but dropped serve in the next game as the set drifted into tie-break. Hantuchova blasted out a 4-0 lead, but Sania reduced the margin to 4-5. That was as much as the Indian could manage against the title holder. There’s considerable swelling on Sania’s right wrist. The India number one will see how she feels on the morrow before deciding if she will take the court for her doubles quarterfinals. Sania and American Bethanie Mattek are scheduled to take on the second-seeded pair from Taipei — Yung-Jan Chan and Chia-Jung Chuang. Sania, who has lost to Hantuchova in their two career meetings, said she had been struggling with a sore wrist all week at Indian Wells. “I’ve actually had it for a few days now since we’ve been playing in the wind,’’ the 21-year-old from Hyderabad added. “In the wind, you’re hitting it all over the place and your wrist takes a lot of pressure. I play a lot with my wrist, on my forehand especially. Right now it’s very, very painful and I’m going to get an MRI (scan) in the next couple of days.’’ “Usually it doesn’t get this sore, so I’m a little worried right now. It gets sore and then it gets OK when I ice it,’’ Sania said.