Sania rallies to second round

New Delhi, August 22:Utilising the one-day break in her rain-interrupted opening round match to regroup herself, Sania Mirza rallied to post a facile win over Spain's Anabel Medina Gerrigues at the USD 600,000 Pilot Pen Tennis tournament at New Haven, USA.

The 28th ranked Indian star, who was trailing 0-1 in the first set on Monday when the play was postponed due to rain, defeated Medina, ranked 33rd, 6-3 6-3 at the Grandstand to advance to the second round on Tuesday.

Sania, who played with authority, said the delay seemed to help her.
"I was actually not feeling very well yesterday (Monday), so maybe it was a blessing in disguise that the rain came down," she said.
"I took a week of last week I felt I needed it. I feel fresh again and ready for the US Open," she added.

Sania will next play eighth seed Alona Bondarenko of Ukraine, who defeated Belarusian Olga Govortsova in their first round encounter in the Tier II tournament being played in the build-up to the US Open beginning next week.
Sania will team up with Mara Santangelo of Italy to open her doubles campaign against the American duo of Corina Morariu and Meghann Shaughnessy.

Agencies>