TheSportsCampus

The gulf in class was very evident as world no. 10 Flavia Pennetta took Indian ace Sania Mirza to school in the second round of the US Open in Flushing Meadows, New York. Sania lasted just 50 minutes on court in a 6-0, 6-0 annihilation, and though Pennetta played well, Mirza's 28 unforced errors did nothing to help her cause.

Playing at the Louis Armstrong Stadium, Sania ran into an in-form Pennetta, who just last month became the first Italian woman ever to enter the top 10 in the WTA Tour rankings. Pennetta came into the US Open on a hot streak having won the LA Tennis Championships and had a run to the semi-finals of the Cincinnati Open which included a win over world no. 3 Venus Williams.

In a first set that lasted just 22 minutes, Sania won only four points on her serve, struggling to land just 6 of 16 first serves. That however was hardly the cause for her loss, as Pennetta served even worse, landing just 6 of 20. It was her 16 unforced errors that proved to be Sania's undoing, as the world no. 71 was completely at sea today.

The second set started a little better for Sania as she pushed Pennetta to deuce in a couple of games, before completely capitulating at the end.

Sania won just 21 points in a rather disappointing outing, and will quickly hope to put the result behind her as she is scheduled to compete in the Women's Doubles and Mixed Doubles events later in the week. Sania will not be playing with compatriot Mahesh Bhupathi in the mixed doubles at the US Open, despite winning the Australian Open together at the start of the year. She will be partnering Canadian Daniel Nestor, while Mahesh is playing alongside South African superstar Liezel Huber, according to official sources.

Unconfirmed reports indicate the decision is probably because of the recurrence of the wrist-injury that had plagued Sania most of last year. Sania had withdrawn from the ITF Bronx Challenger last month, and made the long trip back to India for a couple of days to get some more treatment on the injured wrist. Sania was keen on concentrating on her singles at the Open, and today's result only reaffirms the fact that all is not well with her wrist. There is an outside chance that she may not compete in the Mixed Doubles at all.

Yesterday, Leander Paes and his doubles partner Lukas Dlouhy came through a couple of tough tie-break sets to advance to the second round of the Men's Doubles. Paes and Dlouhy edged past the Romanian pairing of Victor Hanescu and Gabriel Trifu, 7-6 (11), 7-6 (4).