Australian Open 2008: Venus Williams vs Sania Mirza Third Round Match

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Sania Mirza and Venus Williams are going to face each other in the third round of Australian Open 2008. Both of them confirmed their third round places with hard-fought victories in the second round yesterday. Sania Mirza defeated Timea Bacsinszky from Switzerland 6-1, 4-6, 7-5, that took one hour and 44 minutes. Eighth seed Venus Williams, though, took two sets to defeat Frenchwomen Camille Pin 7-5 6-4, she was pushed all the way to clinch the victory in the second round.

Sania Mirza got a good start winning the first set 6-1 within 22 minutes. However, Bacsinszky fought back in the second round pushing the match to the final set. Even in the last set, Sania could not seal the victory easily as she had to come back from 3-1 down. In her post match reaction the Indian tennis has insisted that she was mentally stronger than her opponent.

AFP reported:

"She was in the match till the end, and I think I was just stronger a bit mentally. I hung in there very well," she said.

"I'm very pleased by winning like this today because a lot has been happening in the last couple of weeks off the court, and I just feel I was mentally still strong enough to come through a match like that.

"I mean, I was down 3-1, 30-all (in third). You know, I could have just said, 'I'm just mentally not there'. It would have been a good excuse even for myself.

"But I didn't want to do that. I wanted to come through. And I proved to myself that I'm mentally strong enough to do that. "

Yes, Sania has undergone a though time recently with the national flag controversy that has already reached the court. Sania Mirza was out of action most of the time last year with injury. However, the recurring injuries could not mar his performance as she has been pretty much consistent on the court.

American Venus Williams also faced stronger challenge from Camille Pin. She was down in both the sets against Camille Pin in the match. Actually, Venus roared in the right time giving no chance to her opponent. Both of them were struggling with their services and failed to capitalize on the advantages. Camille Pin took a 4-2 lead in the second set, but Venus Williams came back in the match and finally set up her clash with Sania Mirza.

The Press Association reported:

Both players had trouble holding their own serve and it was fitting that the eighth seed sealed victory on the Rod Laver Arena by breaking the Frenchwoman as she converted a second match point opportunity.

A competitive first set that featured an incredible nine breaks of serve went to Williams after the American broke Pin when leading 6-5 courtesy of a crunching forehand down the line that was followed by a return from the Frenchwoman that landed beyond the baseline.

Sania Mirza vs Venus Williams: Head to Head

Now, Sania Mirza and Venus Williams are going to take on each other in their third round match in Australian Open. No doubt, Venus Williams is favorite for the match, whereas Sania could come up with an upset if she can show her best against the America. Venus and Sania faced each other once earlier, which Venus won in style. The fourth round match of Standford event was held in 2005. Venus did not give any chance to the India to warp up the match 6-3, 6-2.

Well, Sania Mirza was ranked 62 that time and by this time, she has improved a lot in her game. So, it would not be fair to think that Venus Williams would have an easy task to do. Sania Mirza has nothing to lose in the match, rather has everything to win. So, Indian fans can expect an inspirational performance from Sania Mirza against Venus Williams.