Sania battles past Dell'Acua hurdle to enter quarters

Tokyo, Oct 3 (UNI) Sania Mirza battled her way into the quarter-finals of the Japan Open, getting the better of Casey Dell'Acqua of Australia 6-4, 3-6, 6-4 here today.

The 20-year-old Hyderabadi, who has been sidelined by a wrist injury following a third round loss at the US Open last month, continued from where she left in the opening round against Morita and pocketed the first set 6-4 breaking Dell'Acqua once.

Sania, then seemed to let down her guard and gave the 83rd ranked Aussie an opportunity to comeback into the match and level the scores in the the second set.

However, the second seeded Indian managed to gather her composure back in the decider and ensured that she does not miss out on a last eight berth.

In the quarter-finals, she will be up against either eight seed Flavia Pennetta of Italy or American Abiail Spears.

Sania has been in sublime form over the past few months, compiling 15 victories in the American circuit which also saw her breaking into top 30 for the first time in her career.

In her previous visit here in 2005, Sania went all the way to the semis before falling to Tatiana Golovin of France.

UNI