Tatishvili ousts Sania

GEORGIAN teenager Anna Tatishvili saw off Indian tennis star Sania Mirza on Thursday in the Miami WTA and ATP Masters Series tournament.

Tatishvili, who trains in Florida and received a wild card into the draw, beat Mirza 7-6 (8/6), 1-6, 7-6 (10/8) to claim her first match victory in her fourth WTA tour event.

After letting slip a 4-0 lead in the third set, she fended off Mirza`s chances to take the match, despite admitting to nerves on the big stage of Stadium Court.

“I just really wanted to win,” Tatishvili said.

“She hung in there and she was playing some great tennis,” said Mirza, who this week received the WTA award for best newcomer of 2005, but who fell in an opening match for the third time in seven events in 2006.

“I guess it is a bit tough when you are not really playing the best tennis and the other girl is just playing some unbelievable shots,” she said.

The match was just one of many pushed back by rain, which stopped play for more than four hours and briefly returned again after play had resumed.