Mirza, Bhupathi Promote Tennis in India

From the Hindustan Times: Desi tennis champs take to streets

Traffic stalled and hundreds of office goers stopped to take a look as India's tennis superstars Mahesh Bhupathi and Sania Mirza on Monday took to the streets of Bangalore for a friendly contest.

The 30-minute game, a promotional build-up to the Sunfeast Open 2005 in Kolkata from Sep 19-25, was held near the Vidhan Soudha, the stately secretariat in the heart of the city, during peak office hour.

Vehicular movement came to a standstill as Mahesh and Sania battled at the makeshift court to demonstrate their powerful serves, volleys and rallies.

The friendly encounter saw Mahesh beat Sania 6-1 in the only set they played. However, in response to the cheering spectators asking for more, they agreed to play another set, which ended in a tie-break.