Mirza losses to Vera at Pattaya Open

Indian tennis sensation Sania Mirza couldn’t hold her winning run at the WTA tour Pattaya Open when she lost to Russian top seed Vera Zvonareva in straight sets 5-7, 1-6.

Mirza put-up a good fight in the one-hour long match, but was not good enough against the world No. 5 and the top seed at the $220,000 event. Sania rallied well in the first set from 5-2 down to tie things up, 5-5 but from here on Zvonareva took the game away by winning eight of the last nine games.

It is Zvonareva’s first title of the year with an 8-11 lead in finals, which includes the Memphis in 2004 and 2005, Birmingham and Cincinnati in 2006 and Prague and Guangzhou in 2008.

Currently placed 126th WTA rankings, Mirza lost almost half of the 2008 due to a wrist injury. She, however, has so far a good opening this year by winning the Australian Open mixed doubles partnering her mentor, Mahesh Bhupathi.

Sania is now the only female Gland Slam winner for Indian. With one singles title in Hyderabad Open (2005), she has also become the first Indian to reach a career high of No.26 in 2007.