Sania eases past Shaughnessy in first round of Acura Classic

New Delhi, Aug 2 (UNI) Sania Mirza breezed past American Meghann Shaughnessy in their first head-to-head meeting to move into the second round of the 1.3 million dollar WTA Tier I Acura Classic at San Diego, California.

The Indian teen beat the local favourite 6-3, 6-1 to set up a second round encounter with Katarina Srebotnik of Slovenia.

Playing before an enthusiastic crowd on the Grandstand, Sania got past the world number 79 American in a little over an hour's time despite Shaughnessy taking the early advantage helped by her good serve.

The American held her first two service games but from that point almost everything went downhill for her.

Sania broke Shaughnessy's serve and went on to take a 5-3 lead in the opening set but Shaughnessy saved one break point on her serve.

However, the Indian's persistence paid off She took the set on the second break point when a close call went against the local.

In the second set, Sania took a 2-1 lead and then went on to break Shaughnessy two more times to increase her lead to 5-1.

Serving for the match, the Indian blasted an ace to start the game and had little trouble after that in sealing the match in her favour.

Sania had reached the third round of the tournament last year as a qualifier. The Indian teen's doubles campaign has also started smoothly with a facile win in the first round.

Meanwhile, five years since her last appearance here, Martina Hingis made a triumphant return as she eliminated American qualifier Meilen Tu, 6-2, 6-3, in a second-round match.

Warmly welcomed by fans, Hingis struggled initially but regained her rhythm to move ahead in the star-studded tournament, which also has Belgian Kim Clijsters, Russian Maria Sharapova and defending champion Mary Pierce of France in the draw.

''Coming off a long layoff, it's never easy,'' Hingis, playing her first match since the third-round loss at Wimbledon, said.

''The first game was pretty tense, coming back I held serve every single time. I felt like I was putting her under pressure. It was a good win. Every (win) is a good one,'' she added.

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