When Sania Mirza clinched the first set against world number 121 Melinda Czink 6-0 with a backhand down-the-line, many were wondering whether 'Sania sizzle scorches Czink' would make a good headline.
The final scoreline -- 0-6, 6-4, 6-4 in favour of the Hungarian -- left all of them eating their words.
The service ghost came back to haunt the 18-year-old Indian as she served 10 double-faults at crucial junctures of the match to literally give the game away.
In the first game of the second set, Sania began with her second double-fault. It was the first game her serve was broken. She returned the compliment, breaking Czink's serve immediately and then held to go up 2-1, even as the umpire warned Czink for her on-court outrages.
When the players were locked 3-3 and the crowd suddenly realized this was not going to be a one-woman show, Sania missed a sitter, just one of the many unforced errors that were her bane.
On Tuesday, Sania's coach, John Farrington, defended his student's penchant for giving points on a platter. Statistics of unforced errors were misleading because many a time they were not really unforced, he claimed.
But the many points Sania missed on Wednesday were definitely without any help from her opponent.
To give credit where it's due, the Hungarian southpaw lifted her game when it mattered, and her forehand was as ferocious as the Indian's.
"I realized Sania was not as confident as she generally is. And I told myself after the first set that if I lose I will go down fighting," she said later.
The crowd -- much less than Monday but just as vocal -- did its best to egg the Indian on. And at one point -- when Sania came back after being 0-3 down in the third set to draw level at 4-4 -- there was hope that Indian tennis' new kid on the block would pull out a stupendous comeback. She pumped her fists and the Netaji Indoor stadium erupted in the now familiar 'Sania, Sania' chant.
But the Hungarian broke the Hyderabadi's serve the next game, and held on to her own to clinch what she called "a very important victory."
"It is not my best victory, but it is important, because playing against that crowd was very difficult," the 23-year-old Hungarian said after the match.
Hungary is similar to India, in that tennis is not the most popular sport there. Soccer and water polo rule the roost, Czink told a crowd of newsmen, hungry to know about the girl who had ended the Indian favourite's run.
Did she realize she was a villain because she had beaten the crowd's darling?
The Hungarian, who idolizes Boris Becker, replied with a smile: "I know now, thank you for telling me!"
But there was consolation for home fans as Florida-based Shikha, ranked 152, advanced to the third round, beating Rika Fujiwara 6-2, 6-3.
Other results:
Galina Voskoboeva bt Victoria Azarenka 6-3, 7-5; Karolina Sprem bt Evie Dominikovic 6-4, 7-5; Shikha Uberoi bt Rika Fujiwara 6-2, 6-3; Melinda Czink bt Sania Mirza 0-6, 6-4, 6-4; Sybille Bammer bt Nicole Pratt 6-1, 6-3; Elena Likhovtseva bt Yulianna Fedak 6-1, 6-3.
Also read: Sania and the art of time management
