Sania knocked out of Taskent Open

Tashkent, Oct 6 (UNI) Yet again Sania Mirza flattered only to decieve and the Indian star made an exit after losing to Olga Poutchkova of Russia in the quarter-final of the Tashkent Open here today.

Never in her elements, the third seed Hyderbadi was upset by sixth seed Russian 6-4, 4-6, 6-0.

It was another inconsistent performance by the 55th-ranked Indian player, who later said that she never really adjusted to the conditions here at the Tashkent Tennis Centre.

''Sometimes you don't get used to the conditions and then you don't win'' said a disappointed Sania. ''The balls were flying, I just didn't get to feel the ball on my racket. I haven't been feeling the ball in the last three matches.'' Sania's discomfort was visibly apparent during the one-hour, 42-minute match, in which there were 14 breaks of serve.

After losing the first set, hitting wide an inside-out backhand at setpoint, she slumped to a 4-0 deficit in the second. Poutchkova, semi-finalist at the recent Sunfeast Open in Kolkata, then double-faulted three times to drop serve in the next game.

That triggered a mini revival by the Indian. She won the next five games to take the set. But the Russian, ranked just three places behind Sania, recovered quickly and went on to win six games on the trot in the decider to advance to the semifinals.

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