Sania beaten by Rodionova in tennis final

NEW DELHI: Sania Mirza's Delhi dream came crashing down on Saturday when she lost 6-3, 2-6, 7-6 (7/3) to Anastasia Rodionova of Australia in the Commonwealth Games final.

The Indian glamour girl had been bent on becoming the first Commonwealth Games tennis champion in front of her adoring home fans, but she met her match in top seeded Rodionova.

As in the semi-final, Mirza clawed her way back from losing the first set and she stood a break up at 2-1 in the decider before the Russian-born Rodionova broke back to level.

The Australian served for the match at 5-3 but was broken to 30 with the crowd wildly cheering on her every fault.

Mirza saved a match point in the following game before levelling the scores and taking the final into a dramatic tie-break.

Rodionova led from the start in that and the stadium went silent when Mirza double-faulted on the fourth match point against her.