Sania started off on a nervous footing and was 0-4 down in a blink. She fell and hurt her left ankle in the third game, then was a point away from dropping her fifth straight game in the first set. Faltering in her serves and struggling against the painful injury, Sania looked on course to a timid defeat.
And then began the dramatic turnaround as she banished her nerves and decided to go for the shots. Sania played solid attacking tennis and hit some brilliant winners to catch the Russian cold, and won all of the next 6 games to take the set 6-4.
By then Sania was on a song, the painkillers had started working, the crowd was boisterously cheering her on, and the world number 7 was under pressure. Sania traded breaks with Svetlana at the start of the second set, then broke her twice again. Serving for the match, she slipped to 0-40, but climbed back with two forehand winners, saved two more break points, reached match point with a backhand pass, and then forced an error to seal the match in the most befittingly dramatic fashion.
She will now meet Jelena Jankovic of Serbia in the quarterfinals. You know who my money is on.
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