Start of Photos

Start of article text

Sania Mirza ensured the millions of Indians who woke early to watch her first round match on Day Two of the Australian Open 2007 did not regret it as India's most famous female sporting star cruised into the second round.

Mirza may not be the biggest name in Melbourne, where she can walk the streets in anonymity, but in India she is a celebrity having ended 2005 ranked as high as number 31 in the world before slipping back to 66 at the end of last year in what was an injury-plagued season.

But after a promising start to 2007 in Hobart - where she reached the semi-finals, Mirza reached the second round of the Australian Open for the third successive year as she beat Ukraine's Olga Savchuk 6-3 7-5 in a match played in temperatures in the high 30s.

So hot were the conditions at Melbourne Park that the Extreme Heat Policy (EHP) was put into effect after the opening matches on all outside courts had been completed with even Mirza - who was born in one of the world's hottest cities of Mumbai and now lives in Hyderabad, made to sweat it out..

"Bombay (Mumbai) is more humid but here you can really feel the heat and you can feel it burning your legs at the changeover," she said.

Mirza's opponent called for an injury time-out midway through the first set but said she felt the conditions did give her an advantage over her European opponent.

"It's hot in India but not as hot as it was here today but it is a lot hotter in India (normally) than Ukraine," she said.

Mirza, who is still only 20, says she has got used to the life of a celebrity in India admitting she was also used to dealing with the expectations that come with being Asia's

most scrutinised tennis player.

"It is hard for me to go out in India but that is the way my life is, you just have to accept it," she said of the constant attention she receives in her homeland."

"I had a lot of people this morning sending me messages telling me they were going to get up early to watch my match (which began before 7am in India)."

But Mirza said there was also a flip side to her fame as well.

"It is a good feeling when a lot of people come up to me saying they have picked up a racket because of you," she said.

While India has a long tradition in men's tennis, Mirza said her rise had led to a lot more women and children taking up tennis in cricket-mad India.

"It (tennis) is still not close to cricket in popularity but a lot of people are watching tennis now," she said.

"And a lot more children are playing tennis now so it really is growing as a sport so hopefully in a few more years we will get more players coming through."

But while it was a day to remember for Mirza, Day Two was one to forget for Asia's top

ranked male player.

Korean veteran Hyung-Taik Lee, who ended 2006 ranked inside the top 50 for the first time in his long career, was thrashed by Czech No.13 seed Tomas Berdych 6-1 6-2 6-2 in just 90 minutes.

It was the fourth year in a row Lee had been beaten in the first round of the Australian Open and capped off a disappointing summer for the 31-year-old, who also bowed out in the first round at lead-up tournaments in Doha and Sydney, prior to the Australian Open.

In other results, Japan's Aiko Nakamura provided a stunning upset of No.32 seed Eleni Daniilidou, blitzing the Greek, 6-4 6-0.

Nakamura fired in 76 per cent of her first serves and kept her unforced error count low as Daniilidou struggled to find any form of consistency in her game.

It was also good news for Nakamura's compatriot, Akiko Morigami, who ended the hopes of Bulgarian Tsvetana Pironkova in three sets, 7-5 2-6 6-4.

Morigami put together a solid game to edge out Pironkova in what was an extremely close encounter.

The news wasn't so good for Uzbek Varvara Lepchenko, who was overrun in the third set to go down to Polish hope Agnieszka Radwanska, 5-7 6-3 6-2, while Chinese Taipei representative Yung-Jan Chan was eliminated by local hero Alicia Molik in straight sets, 6-2 7-6(4).

Start associated links