Sania Mirza Not In Rogers Cup Main Draw  Sania Mirza |
Sania Mirza of India has failed to enter the main draw of the $2 million Rogers Cup women's tennis tournament after she was defeated by Heidi El Tbakh for a 1-6, 6-3, 4-6 on Sunday in Toronto.
Out of the 56 players in the main draw, 44 were given direct entries, which included the top 16 players of the world.
Sania, who is World No. 74, had qualified the first round with much difficulty.
The first round was won by Sania after defeating the Canadian Marie-Eve Pelletier on Saturday for a 2-6, 6-4, 6-2.
She started the second round with a gentle defeat. But she regained her state to some extent during the second, despite having problems to hold her serve.
Even though she was broken twice, she had managed to make it a set-all. In the decider, even though she had enough opportunities t she could not get hold of even one of the five break points whereas the local girl made the most from the single break point.
El Tabakh El of Oakville, Ontario, defeated top-seeded Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in the first round.
"I'm very satisfied," said El Tabakh, 22. "I did a lot better than I thought I would coming into the tournament. I knew (my opponents) were better ranked than I am so I had nothing to lose and I just went for it."
The other remaining Canadian in the qualifying draw, Sharon Fichman of Toronto, fell to Wickmayer of Belgium 6-3, 6-2.
The other seasoned campaigners who have made their way into the main draw are Julie Coin, Maria Kirilenko, and Maria Rybarikova.
Sania will play in the doubles with her new partner Francesca Schiavone of Italy. They will challenge Akgul Amanmuradova of Uzbekistan and Alla Kudryavtseva of Russia in their first round.
