By IANS
Doha : Muscle cramps forced Sania Mirza to pull out of the deciding set against Belarussian Olga Govortsova in the first round of the $2.5 million Qatar Open at the Khalifa Tennis Complex here.
Sania, ranked 32nd in the world, returned to the court here after a month-long injury lay-off. She was injured during the Australian Open mixed doubles finals.
The 21-year-old Indian was trailing 2-3 in the third set when she opted out, thereby, handing over the match to the 50th ranked Govortsova 4-6, 7-6 (7-5), 3-2 in two hours and 20 minutes Tuesday.
Sania started her match on a positive note against Govortsova and took little time to pocket the first set 6-4. She lost the next in the tiebreaker though she had five match points.
“I was cramping up in my leg, toes and even in my shins. It might be a case of lack of match practice as I was playing after nearly four weeks,” Sania said. “You hardly can do anything when your body gives up.”