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India's Sania Mirza reached the semi-finals of Pattaya Open by beating sixth-seeded Tamarine Tanasugarn of Thailand 7-5, 6-4 on Friday (February 13). Sania Mirza took one hour and 45 minutes to wrap up the match. The Indian player will now face eighth seed Magdalena Rybarikova of Slovakia in one of the semi-final matches. Rybarikova booked her berth in the semi-finals by overpowering second seed Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark 6-4, 6-1.
Sania Mirza will be playing her first singles semi-final after her come-back to the international circuit last month. She was out of the international tennis following a wrist surgery. This year Sania achieved a major success by winning the Australia Open mixed-doubles title partnering Mahesh Bhupathi. During her match against home favourite Tamarine, Sania was able to garb an early lead but the Tamarine gave her tough competition in the first set. Tamarine tried very hard but the Indian gave her fewer chances and sealed her victory in one hour and 45 minutes. Sania converted two break points to Tamarine's one.
The biggest upset was the defeat of second-seeded Caroline Wozniacki at the hands of Magdalena Rybarikova. The Danish player made a disappointing start by conceding the opening game when Rybarikova fired a winning forehand down the line. The eight-seeded Rybarikova continued to put pressure on Wozniacki and won the game to play Sania in the semis.
