Sania finds Jie Zhang too much to handle

Doha: Sania Mirza's frustration showed as she angrily hurled her racquet onto the court.

The gold medal game hadn't started well for her with her Chinese opponent Jie Zhang taking the first set 6-4.

A concerted effort in the second set saw her dominate to pull even with a 6-1 win.

But with it all to play for in the third set a tiring Mirza, who had taken pain killers before the game to combat aching muscles, found her opponent an little too much to handle. Zheng, ranked 33 in the world, looked calm and collected while Mirza's serve disintegrated and she won just one game in the final set.

Raucous crowd

Afterwards, the raucous, predominantly Indian crowd applauded their heroine as she accepted the silver medal.

"It's almost like playing at home," said 66-ranked Mirza of her vocal support at Qatar Tennis Stadium. "The stands were almost full and I think this match had the best turn out. They have pushed me when I was down and cheered me when I was up."

Mirza who competed in the singles, doubles and mixed doubles at the Asian Games, said that tiredness played a big factor in her defeat but refused to make excuses. She had been hotly-tipped to claim gold after winning all her other matches in straight sets, but just seemed to run out of steam in the last set.

"Fatigue definitely came into it," admitted Mirza. "I have played a lot of tennis over the last two weeks, but that's not an excuse. You can't take anything away from Jie, she played a great match and she deserved to win." And Mirza said her experiences at the Asian Games should set her up nicely for the Australian Open in January.

"It's great practice before the Australian Open," she said. "But after I get home I'm not going to pick up a racquet for a few days!"

Mirza added that she felt proud to have played for India and won a medal at the Asian Games.