Bangalore, June 15 : In professional sport the toughest miles are rarely recorded. Never applauded. Over a period of time, they become personal milestones, the place where the will scored over a whim.
On Saturday, Sania Mirza lost both her semi-final matches in the AEGON Classic in Birmingham. In the singles, the 22-year-old went down to the 13th seed Magdalena Rybarikova in a tough three-setter. A few hours later, Sania and Chia-Jung Chuang of Taipei took the exit in the doubles competition too.
After spending nearly five hours on court, she had her dad (Imran) drive her almost five hours from Birmingham to Eastbourne the same evening for her next meet. They arrived at their destination in the wee hours of the morning on Sunday and Sania took the court against Tatiana Poutchek at 1 pm.
She battled hard for a set-and-a-half. Then, when she could barely stand, her back muscles tightening, she threw in the towel at 4-6, 2-3.
Sania, placed at No. 98 after losing most of last season to a wrist injury. Her re-entry to the WTA Tour needed to be handled with caution. This season she has already spent fair time away from competition, for rehabilitation. When the new ranking comes out on Monday, Sania would climb some 20 slots, courtesy her semifinal showing in Birmingham.
—-Agencies