Sania Mirza might have been beaten by the top seed in the quarterfinal of the Cincinnati Open but Patty Schnyder admits she had a tough time against the aggressive Indian and struggled to read her game.
Schnyder beat Sania (7), 5-7 in the quarter-final of the USD 175,000 dollar event but the Swiss eventually fell to Katarina Srebotnik in the semi-final.
Recalling her match against Sania, Schnyder said, ''I was struggling with my serve and forehand early in the match. I was having a hard time reading Sania Mirza's game too. I couldn't read her strokes, and she was playing so aggressive.
''All I could do was fight. Luckily I won that first set, and then in the rain delay in the second set I really regrouped,'' she said.
''(It) was a difficult test. It was a difficult night, with the rain and wind. Also, there were some fireworks going off in the sky from the amusement park nearby. So, those were distracting. But I was also a bit angry with myself about my game,'' she wrote in her blog.
Admitting that the rain delay helped her make a comeback and eventually walk away with the match, Schnyder said, ''If you have a little bit of a relaxing moment it really helps during a match. The rain delay helped. I talked with (coach) Rainer, changed my clothes because I was really sweaty, played two games of Space Invaders (no high scores, unfortunately), and just moved around a bit. I also signed some autographs!
''In the middle of the delay, some fans saw me sitting on the couches in the player lounge through the windows and started waving to me, so I went out and signed a few autographs. Normally in a rain delay you grab a snack, like a banana, but I didn't feel like eating,'' she said.
Admitting it was a gruelling test against the Indian, the Swiss said, ''After a really late match like this, you just have to eat, rest, and just hope you can fall asleep quickly so you can get your rest for the next day.''
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