Their last match at the Danish Open had ended in half the time (19 minutes) that this final did, giving the impression that Saina Nehwal's opponent was easy pickings as she chased her second title in back-to-back weeks, says a report in The Indian Express, adding that at the French Open on Sunday, though, the Indian suffered a 21-19, 21-11 loss in 39 minutes to Japanese Minatsu Mitani to incur her first reverse in a final this season, also her first-ever to a non-Chinese.
“In hindsight, that bizarre previous encounter should have brought on a foreboding of what was to happen in Paris. In the second round at Odense, Denmark, last week, the Japanese had run up a blitzy 15-0 lead in the first set, before giving away 21 straight points, to hand the Hyderabadi the shortest of victories of her international career. But at the Stade Pierre De Coubertin, Mitani's superior court-coverage proved to be an aggravation to Nehwal playing her 10th match in 12 days and the Indian paid for her movements — a tad-worser-for-the wear — as the fight went out of her,” says the report.
Meawhile The Times Of India reports that when top seed Saina Nehwal took to the court in the final of the French Open Super Series, in Paris on Sunday, against a relatively unknown and unseeded Minatsu Mitani of Japan, few would have bet against the Indian clinching another back-to-back title. “But in a matter of 39 minutes, the Japanese demolished the Indian to script history by becoming the first player from her nation to win a Super Series title,” says the report, adding that the 19-21, 11-21 loss to Minatsu will surely hurt Saina a lot as this is the first time that she has lost to the Japanese, whose best career ranking so far has been 26.
“Saina, who won the Denmark Open Premier last week, looked clueless as Minastu retrieved everything and came up with some breathtaking angular crosscourt slices. Had Saina won on Sunday, she could have achieved a rare feat of claiming consecutive titles for the third time in her career. "I got very tired today. All credit to her, she played really well," Saina told TOI.
According to a report in Hindustan Times, Minatsu, who jumped a couple of places in world rankings on Thursday, matched Saina with her brilliant net play and smashes and engaged the Indian in long rallies. “She was also good in her defense as she retrieved everything thrown at her. Saina started off well and initially opened up a narrow 6-3 lead but Minatsu slowly built her game and moved from 7-7 to 16-16 to keep breathing down the Indian's neck,” says the report, adding that the 22-year-old from Hyderabad picked up a couple of points to move to 18-16 but the Japanese reeled off four straight points from 17-19 to win the first game.
“In the second game, Saina tried to exploit Minatsu's weakness at the fore court and played some angled shots to move to 5-2. But Minatsu engaged Saina in long rallies and used her drops and cross court smashes to catch up with the Indian, before moving into the break at 11-10 with yet another brilliant smash,” says the report, adding that she grabbed four more quick points to move to 15-10.
“Minatsu made Saina move around the court by mixing her shots, while the Indian faltered with her accuracy and lost a few points hitting wide or due to misjudgement. In no time, Minatsu zoomed to match point at 20-11 and with Saina finding the net, it was all over for the Indian.”