Sania Mirza loses in second round

Melbourne, Jan. 19. (AP): Sania Mirza’s second trip to the Australian Open was not as successful as her breakthrough run last year.

No. 32-ranked Mirza went down 6-3, 7-5 to Dutch teenager Michaella Krajicek in 81 minutes in a second round match Thursday on Show Court 3.

Mirza captured headlines this time last year as she became the first Indian woman to reach the third round of a Grand Slam tournament.

The 19-year-old Indian star later reached the fourth round at the U.S. Open and finished 2005 at No. 31 in the WTA rankings.

But she struggled to find rhythm on her serve and ground strokes against Krajicek, blaming it in part on a number of technical changes to her game during the season break.

“I think the match was pretty winnable, but that’s how it is,” said Mirza. “I really didn’t have the rhythm … I saw it coming that I would make some errors when it really mattered and that’s what happened.”

Mirza, who said after her first-round win over qualifier Victoria Azarenka that she felt no pressure to repeat last year’s performance, hit more winners _ 20 to 16 _ but was hampered by 35 unforced errors to 26 from Krajicek