Sania stroms into Q/F of Cincinnati Open

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Cincinnati, July 19: Third seed Sania Mirza stormed into the quarter-finals of the 175,000 dollar Cincinnati Open for the third time in a row with a straight set win over Varvara Lepchenko of Uzbekistan here.

Sania whipped her opponent 6-2, 6-2 to mark the first time when she put together back-to-back victories since February.

The 20-year-old Hyderabadi girl will now face the winner of the second-round match between ninth-seeded Jill Craybas of the United States and Olga Govortsova of Belarus.

If Sania manages to win her quarter-final encounter, she may run in against top seed Russian Anna Chakvetadze, who also reached the last eight, defeating Romanian qualifier Anda Perianu 6-4, 6-3. Sania has been drawn on the same half with the Russian.

Unlike her scratchy first round win over American Abigail Spears 6-4, 6-3, Sania, ranked 38th in the world, got into the groove quickly to sink Lepchenko hopes of putting up stiif resistance.

Japan's Akiko Morigami, the only other seeded player in action, also had an easy second-round match, handing out an identical drubbing to German teenager Angelique Kerber 6-2, 6-2.

The WTA hardcourt event has already been plagued by the withdrawals of several players due to injuries, including Serena Williams, Wimbledon finalist Marion Bartoli, defending champion Vera Zvonareva and last year's runner-up Katarina Srebotnik.

UNI