Sania, Somdev set for US Open
[Mon Aug 30, 2010]Indian tennis sensations Sania Mirza and Somdev Devvarman are all set to lead the Indian campaign at US Open, starting on Monday.
Coming through three strong qualifying round wins, Sania will meet fellow qualifier Michelle Larcher De Britto of Portugal for the first round of US Open Grand Slam. De Britto is also a hard hitting player. 17-year-old De Britto is ranked 176th, while Mirza is ranked 160th on WTA charts and fight between them is supposed to be a tough one.
Talking about her opponent, Sania said, "De Britto is one of the highly rated new talents on the Tour. She is extremely consistent. Like me she also has the confidence of coming through the qualifying rounds with three good wins."
Sania returned to professional circuit after four months due to a recurring wrist injury and so she has seen little success at the latest hard-court events. "I knew I would need a few months to find my feet again in professional tennis. I think I've made some progress over the last few weeks and coming through the US Open qualifiers is a definite confidence booster," said Sania.
In the qualifying rounds Sania made some good wins. She defeated Russian Elena Bovina in the second round, who was once no.14 in world. However in the third round, she defeated Colombian Catalina Castano, who was a former top 40 player.
Meanwhile, Somdev ranked 99 will take on South African Kevin Anderson ranked 77 for the first round clash.
