Sanias Olympic spot in jeopardy

Sports

Sanias Olympic spot in jeopardy

Close

India's medal hopes dwindled at London Olympics as Sania Mirza crashed out of women doubles.

30 May,2012 05:46 pm

In a blow to Indias medal hopes at the London Olympics, Sania Mirza crashed out of the women doubles in the first round.World No.10 Sania, partnering American Bethanie Mattek-Sands, needed to stay in top-10 before the June 11 cut-off mark for a direct entry into the doubles draw at Olympics.Retaining her spot in the top-10 would not only have ensured Sania a place in the main draw at London but also given her a shot in the mixed doubles.And for that, she needed to defend 1400 points at the Roland Garros, where she was a finalist last year.Only a top-10 player can choose his/her partner at the Olympics. But Tuesday’s 3-6 6-4 5-7 defeat to Nina Bratchikova of Russia and Edina Gallovits-Hall of Romania means Sania will now have to rely on a wild card entry in the singles draw, for which the All India Tennis Association (AITA) has already applied.Rafael Nadal began his quest for a record seventh French Open title in style, wearing a pink shirt and pink shoelaces. And he won easily too.The second-seeded Spaniard had little trouble on Tuesday against Simone Bolelli of Italy, winning 6-2 6-2 6-1.Maria Sharapova was as perfect, winning all 12 games to produce a double bagel.And Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova advanced by beating junior Wimbledon champion Ashleigh Barty 6-1 6-2.Nadal improved his record to 46-1 at Roland Garros. His only loss came in the fourth round in 2009, against Robin Soderling. Against Bolelli, Nadal made only 18 unforced errors, fewer than half as many as his opponent.From 2-2 in the first set, Nadal won eight straight games to take control. And after a short blip in the second set, Nadal won eight of the last nine games. Fourth-seeded Andy Murray also advanced, beating Tatsuma Ito of Japan 6-1 7-5 6-0.