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Playing the women’s doubles semifinals for the first time at Flushing Meadows, Sania Mirza, in tandem with Zheng Jie of China lost to eighth seeds and Australian Open and Wimbledon runners-up Casey Dellacqua and Ashleigh Barty 2-6, 2-6.
Prior to the US Open, Mirza and Zheng had participated in just four events together and won the New Haven Premier tournament held the week before the US Open.
The tenth seeds were on a giant killing spree, as they had earlier ousted Wimbledon champions Peng Shuai and Hsieh Su-Wei in the quarter-finals with a display of some high level tennis. In spite of possessing weak serves, both Sania and Zheng, interestingly, did not have their serve broken until the quarter-finals.
Sania seems to be returning to her best game, which is quite evident since the Wimbledon Championships this year. Looking at her rejuvenated ground strokes, a few top commentators expressed the idea that Sania could make a comeback in singles too, given that she is just 26 and now seems fit. Sania herself has not voiced such ideas as of now and seems to be cautious with her knee.
It looked like India would have two different finalists at a Grand Slam after a long gap. Yet, Sania could not manage a win against the Australians. Now, let’s hope that Leander wins his third US Open Trophy.
