Dubai: Indian tennis star Sania Mirza will be eyeing a much-expected jump in the rankings after her "dream home win" at the 13th Al Habtoor Tennis Challenge that concluded at the Habtoor Grand Resort and Spa yesterday.
Played before a huge holiday crowd at the scenic Court No 3 facing the Jumeirah Beach, Mirza took time to get going, but once she did there was no stopping her as she beat Serbian Bojana Jovanovski 4-6, 6-3, 6-0 in more than two hours of sapping afternoon heat to pick up the 110 ranking points on offer at this $75,000 (Dh275,482) event.
Khalaf Al Habtoor, Chairman, Al Habtoor Group of Companies was joined by his brother Sultan Al Habtoor, President, Al Habtoor Group and Saif Al Mansouri, Thomas Ferrand and Mohammad Bin Tarraf from title sponsors Emirates NBD at the presentation after the final.
Mirza looked a bit rusty in the first and paid for this with her Serbian opponent taking the first set and then breaking the Indian for an early 1-0 lead in the second.
Twists and turns
However, Mirza turned things around by returning the favour in the very next game followed by another two breaks in the fourth and sixth games for a comfortable 5-1 lead.
The lanky Serbian though — who had beaten Sania in their previous two meetings — came right back for a break and held serve to trail 3-5.
The Hyderabad girl then served out the set 6-3 to go into the deciding third which she went on to cruise through 6-0. "She was amazing in the third set. I had no answer to anything that she sent across," Jovanovski, who was in for a surprise at the presentation after she was made to cut a cake in anticipation of her birthday on December 31, said.
"I had my chances in the second set and could have been up 2-0, but then she suddenly started playing so well," Jovanovski said.
Coming as an unseeded player on her debut in this tournament, Mirza was pleased with the way she raised her game.
"After having a not so good start to the year, I am happy to be finishing on a high," Mirza said.
"This has been a dream end for my season. I will stay back in Dubai for another two days and then proceed to India for a few days before leaving for Auckland [to start the new season]," Mirza said.
Khalaf Al Habtoor awarded Mirza a special gift along with an annual membership at the Habtoor Grand Resort and Spa at the end of the presentation.