Sania goes down in final

Leading Indian junior Sania Mirza went down fighting to top seed Matea Mezak of Croatia 4-6, 7-6(7-3), 2-6 in the final of the Grade II Hong Kong Open junior girls' championship, which concluded in Hong Kong on Saturday.

In a tough 150-minute final, Sania could have won the first set but missed some easy volleys while leading 4-3 and 40-15 in the eighth game.

Mezak, who is Sania's doubles partner, broke and then took control of the set by winning three games in a row to win the first set at 6-4.

In the second set, both the players held serve and the set went into the tie-breaker, where Sania prevailed 7-6(7-3).

The top seed then came up with a superb all-round show in the decider, racing to a 5-1 lead, before winning at 6-2.