Mirza exits French Open in first round

Published: May 27, 2009

PARIS (AFP) - India's Sania Mirza was knocked out of the French Open after a 6-4, 7-6 (7/3) defeat to
Kazakhstan's Galina Voskoboeva in a rain-hit first-round match here on Tuesday.
Mirza, the world number 95 and reigning Australian Open mixed doubles champion, held to love in an emphatic
opening service game before the heavens opened, forcing the players off with the score 1-1.The 22-year-old
surrendered her serve in the first game after the rain delay and spurned two chances to break back in game six,
letting another two break points slip by at 4-3 down as Voskoboeva, 24, closed out the set.
The players exchanged breaks twice in the second set before Russia-born Voskoboeva, the world number 81,
took advantage of her opponent's misfiring serve to clinch victory in the tie-break, sealing her win with an ace.
Mirza became the first female Indian player to earn in excess of one million US dollars in 2008, despite a
season disrupted by a recurring wrist injury that caused her to miss last year's French Open.
Her mixed doubles success in Melbourne this year, with partner Mahesh Bhupathi, made her the first Indian
woman to win a Grand Slam title.
Voskoboeva will play Russian seventh seed Svetlana Kuznetsova in round two.

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