Despite impressing one and all with her valiant performance in the second round of Ladies' singles at Wimbledon on Wednesday, Sania Mirza is not ready to rate it as the best match of her fledgling career.
"I lost the match, whatever it was. Even if I played the best tennis of my life, I still lost the match.
"I still think when I played her in Dubai that was the best match of my career, because I won it," the 18-year-old Indian said after pushing world No. 5 Svetlana Kuznetsova to the wall on the hallowed Centre Court of Wimbeldon.
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"Well, it has to be at the back of her mind that I had beaten her before. She was ready for it. You could see; whatever my ranking is, whatever her ranking is, I think she was ready from the start. She knew I could come back and I knew she could always come back.
"When I went out there I didn't think that I had beaten her in Dubai or anything like that. Every day is a different day. It just depends on how you play on that particular day. I think we matched each other point to point except for that one point where she made an exceptionally good volley," Sania said.
The Indian star was referring to what she considered was the turning point of the match, when Kuznetsova, facing break-point in the third set, came up with an amazing volley winner.
"I think what separated us was that volley she made at break-point, at 5-4. That was one amazing volley she made. Credit to her for that! I think that's where I just lost out on that point in the third set. I still don't think anything went wrong. 5-2 down, I came back to 5-4. Could have gone any way, even at 5-4," Sania was quoted as saying by the official Wimbledon web site.
The Hyderabad youngster really lapped up each and every moment from the sizzling encounter and said she just loved it.
"Great (feeling). I think it's everyone's dream to play on Centre Court. First time Wimbledon, playing on Centre, I was... you know, I loved it. It was great," she said.
Speaking about her dreams, the 2003 Wimbledon junior doubles champion said the cherished one is to play in the Wimbledon final.
"You always have dreams. When you start playing tennis, you always dream that you are going to play Wimbledon Centre Court one day. That dream came true for me early in my life. But I hope I'll have many more Centre Court matches to play. I hope I'll be here second Saturday on Centre Court."
