"I don't think even the Arthur Ashe stadium [at Flushing Meadows, New York], with its capacity crowd, could be so loud," said Shikha Uberoi.
On Monday, the atmosphere at the Sports Authority of Andhra Pradesh stadium in Hyderabad was electric as local girl and India's new tennis sensation Sania Mirza took to the court along with Uberoi.
The stands were starting to fill in when the Indian pair walked out for their doubles match against Na Li and Chin-Wei Chan under the fading sun. The loud cheers, which edged on the frenzy, caused some anxiety -- as both players later admitted -- but inspired the Indian duo to a convincing 6-4, 7-5 victory in the first round of the doubles competition at the Hyderabad Open.
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Shikha, who was recently permitted to play for India, began tentatively as she lost her first service game in the opening set. But the two complimented each other well to earn a double break and win the set 6-4.
"I was a little nervous. I had never played in front of such a huge crowd but my partner took me through," said Shikha, who was later seen playing with the crowd. The American desi settled in perfectly within the Indian mosaic and even bailed the team out in the end as Sania started wilting under the crowd pressure.
Leading 4-2 in the second set, the pair should have strutted home easily but Sania lost her serve and the Chinese pair started finding their groundstrokes.
"I guess even I was a little tight in the end, but I think we combined really well to win the match," said Sania.
The Indian pair had the advantage of serving first in the second set and though Li and Chan kept the game level till 5-5 they were under constant pressure.
Shikha upped her performance in the last few games and rallied beautifully from the baseline. Chan served a poor last game, and a double-fault handed the match to Mirza and Uberoi.
"After the initial nerves we were pretty relaxed out there, and kept chatting up each other. Sania kept telling me to forget that I was playing in front of such a huge crowd and just concentrate on my game," said Shikha, who teamed up with Sania only for the second time.
They previously played an eight-game qualifying round in Hobart, Australia.
"Don't ask about that match, this was a much better result," quipped Shikha.
