Sania trips at Chakvetadze hurdle in US Open

New York, Sept 2 (UNI) Sania Mirza's dream run in the US Open came to a screeching halt as she lost in straight sets against her old nemisis Anna Chakvetadze of Russia.

The Russian sixth seed continued her dominance over the Indian tennis sensation, beating her 6-2, 6-3 in the third round of the 19,653,000 dollar event.

Thus taking her winning tally to 4-0 over the Indian ace, including her prior truimphs at Hobart, Cincinnati and in Stanford, where she beat Sania in the finals.

The duel between the Chakvetadze and the 26th seed Sania, the first Indian woman to be seeded at a Grand Slam, took only 53 minutes.

''I didn't play an ugly match,'' Mirza said after the match.

''It was just she didn't allow me to play well. I was always on the move. I was always running.

''She was very rarely running. She was dictating play. I like to dictate play. That's how I play. When I can't do that I start putting pressure on myself,'' The Indian tennis sensation confessed.

In the first set Chakvetadze hit a forehand to break Sania first service game of the match. The 26th seed Indian manage to hold on to her serve in the fourth service game in the first set, thus opening her account but the sixth seeds tremendous power was too much for Sania, as she lost the first set 6-2.

In the second set Sania fell behind 5-1 before rallying from behind to break Chakvetadze and denying the sixth seed on a match point. The Hyderabadi girl manage to hold on to her serve and denying the Russian her consecutive match point.

In the next service match Chakvetadze started the proceding with an ace. The 6th seed held serve to end the match on a forehand winner and ensuring that she matched her best US Open performance by reaching the fourth round.

In the end it was too much power, three aces, from the 6th seed along with her 67 per cent first serve as against 48 per cent by Mirza, with no aces that proved to be the difference.

''I had to do something different. I didn't change it up enough.

''I find it very hard to play her. She is very hard for a lot of players,'' Mirza said.

Mirza has reached the fourth round of a grand slam tournament only once, the 2005 US Open, defeating Mashona Washington, Maria Elena Camerin and Marion Bartoli in the process.

Sania parried questions on her inablility to win any major Grand Slam tournament and said, ''I just lost to a player that is top 10 in the world. I don't think I have to worry too much about it.

''In the last six or seven weeks I lost to three or four top 10 players everytime I've lost a match. You are going to meet those kind of players in a slam.

''Yes, you have to find a way to win but there are very few grand slam champions and very few grand slam finalists,'' Sania said.

UNI