Sania to face lower-ranked Brianti in opening tie of French Open

Paris, May 27 (UNI) Sania Mirza has been handed a relatively easy first round as she will play lower ranked Alberta Brianti of Italy in the women's singles of French Open here.

The 20-year-old Indian, currently ranked 20th, will run into seventh seeded Ana Ivanovic of Serbia if she gets past the Italian ranked 37 places behind her in the opening round.

Sania has been struggling to find form in singles after more than a two month lay-off following a minor surgery on her knee and has to come up with some extra effort to progress further in the tournament. If she gets past the early rounds, she will be up against formidable Maria Sharapova -- seeded second -- and Svetlana Kuznetsova of Russia who has been seeded third.

She had lost in the first round in Morocco Open and Istanbul Cup in the two WTA tour events after her injury lay-off. She had also not gone past the first round of the Grand Slam event in her earlier two attempts in 2005 and 2006.

In the doubles, though, she has been in sublime form, having won in Morocco partnering Vania King of USA and finishing runners-up in Istanbul pairing with Chan Yu- Jung of Chinese Taipei.

UNI