Tough draw for Sania, faces 7th seed Dementieva in Wimbledon opene

London, June 23 (UNI) Sania Mirza was handed a tough Wimbledon draw today that pits the Hyderabadi teenager aganst seventh seeded Russian Elena Dementieva in the first round of the singles event.

The Indian, who has been struggling to defend her points in her second full WTA season, has had an average outing this year and reaching the third round in the DFS Classic in Birmingham has been the best show so far.

Thirty places separe Sania from the Russian player in the WTA ladder and in case the Indian can upset world number eight Dementieva in the opener, she would have relatively easier opponent in either the American Meghann shaughnessy or the Alyona Bondarenko of Ukraine in the second round.

Sania partners Michaella Krajicek in women's doubles and the Indo-Dutch dup faces Stephanie Foretz of France and Antonella Serra Zanetti of Italy in the first round.

In men's doubles, seventh seeds leander Paes and his Czech comrade-in-arms Martin Damm face inseeded Serbian-Russian pair of Janko Tipsarevic and Mikhail Youzhny.

Paes' estranged partner and compatriot Mahesh Bhupathi and his German team mate Alexander Waske, seeded 13th, meet unseeded pair of Frederic Niemeyer (Canada) and Glenn Weiner (USA) in another first round match.

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