Sania-Rodionova pair loses in semis of Estoril Open

Estoril (Portugal): Sania Mirza and her partner Anastasia Rodionova crashed out of the Estoril Open after losing to the Kazakh pair of Yaroslava Shvedova and Galina Voskobo 6-3 7-6 (6) in the women`s doubles semifinals here.

The second seeded Indo-Australian combo fought hard before going down to third seeds in an hour and 24 minutes. There was, however, little to differentiate between the two teams. While Sania and Rodionova saved five out of eight breakpoints in the match and converted two off their seven chances, Shvedova and Voskobo saved five of seven breakpoints and converted three out of the eight opportunities they earned. After losing the first set 3-6, the Indo-Australian pair managed to take the second set to the tie breaker. But the Kazakhs held their nerves to seal the set and the match. Rodionova had beaten Sania in the 2010 Commonwealth Games women`s singles final. PTI