![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.sepiamutiny.com\/sepia\/SaniaMirzaVsSharapova.jpg\")
In a battle of 18-year-old millionaires, Sania Mirza lost to Maria Sharapova 6-2, 6-1, in what seemed like the world’s shortest match at just 59 minutes. Ouch. She couldn’t get her first serve in and relied on a soft second serve. Sharapova slashed that serve down the line for winners over and over, like a boxer who’s found an opponent’s weakness and just keeps riding it.<\/p>\n\n
Mirza committed twice as many unforced errors as Sharapova. She didn’t do enough cross-court shots, sticking with lots of straight, fastball returns; Sharapova moved her all over the court. On the plus side, Mirza hit harder than Sharapova, who let lots of fast returns by her, even those within forehand range.<\/p>\n\n
The uncle-commentator tried to put a positive spin on Sania’s showing after the match; meanwhile, I rocked back and forth: ‘ouch, Elliot<\/a>…’ CBS showed a dorky fan sign straight out of Bride and Prejudice:<\/em> ‘Sania: our precious Indian jewel.’ And man, the Sharapova squeal is annoying.<\/p>\n\n >> Watch the match<\/strong><\/a> Previous posts: one<\/a>, two<\/a>, three<\/a>, four<\/a>, five<\/a>, six<\/a>, seven<\/a>, eight<\/a>, nine<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" In a battle of 18-year-old millionaires, Sania Mirza lost to Maria Sharapova 6-2, 6-1, in what seemed like the world’s shortest match at just 59 minutes. Ouch. She couldn’t get her first serve in and relied on a soft second … Continue reading
(196 MB DivX; you need a BitTorrent downloader: Windows<\/a>, Mac<\/a>)<\/p>\n\n