New York, Aug 31: India's Sania Mirza reached the third round of a grand slam tournament for the first time in two years after defeating Laura Granville 6-3 7-5 at the US Open today.

The 26th-seeded Mirza, who has struggled to live up to the hype following her breakthrough season in 2005, suffered a second-set wobble before finally sealing her place in the last 32.

The Indian pin-up squandered two match points while serving at 5-4 in the second set when Granville broke her for the fifth time to level the set.

However, Mirza broke right back and held serve in the 12th game to close out the 82-minute match on Louis Armstrong Stadium.

''Once you miss a match point you starting thinking every time you have one,'' said Mirza. ''I guess that's where the mental strength counts.

''When I lost the game, there wasn't much I could do. I had to put it behind me. The last two games I played very good. I started to be more aggressive.'' The 60th-ranked Granville had recovered from a 4-1 deficit in the second set and had all the momentum with the score level at 5-5.

UNFORCED ERRORS

She shook her head when discussing with reporters the 11th game when Mirza scored the pivotal break.

''I definitely had my chances,'' said Granville. ''She played well but I definitely didn't step up in the key moments. I wasn't aggressive enough. She was. She was willing to go for it.'' The 20-year-old Mirza committed 33 unforced errors, compared to 20 for Granville. But she dictated play with her powerful groundstrokes, particularly from the forehand side.

''I'm always going to have more unforced errors than the other person,'' Mirza said with a laugh.

''If I'm going to play such attacking tennis, there are going to be very few days when I'll have very few errors. You have to be Roger Federer to do that.'' Mirza made up for the unforced errors with a 33-18 edge in winners.

In the third round, the 27th-ranked Mirza will face sixth seed Anna Chakvetadze of Russia, her former doubles partner in the junior ranks.

Should she beat the Russian, Mirza would equal her best showing at a grand slam. The Indian has failed to win more than one match at any of the four majors since reaching the last 16 here in 2005.

''It will be a tough match,'' said Mirza, who has lost to Chakvetadze all three times they have played in singles. ''I'll have no pressure. She's been playing great tennis.

''It's the third round of the Open. Anything can happen.''

Reuters
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