Sania wins in straight sets, sails into 2nd round of Australian op

Melbourne, Jan 15 (UNI) Tennis ace Sania Mirza downed Iroda Tulyaganova of Uzbekistan in straight sets to advance to the second round of the Australian Open here today.

21-year-old Sania, who has been seeded 31, beat Tulyaganova 6-4, 6-2 and now will face the winner of the match between Australian Sophie Ferguson and Swiss Timea Bacsinszky.

The girl from Hyderabad, who has been battling injuries and off-court controversies , had a shaky start as she wasted a couple of break points and committed 11 unforced errors in the opening set.

However, Tulyaganova's indifferent form worked to Sania's advantage as she wrested the first set after a 40-minute see-saw battle.

Sania then showed some fine form in the second set, cutting down on her unforced errors besides breaking Tulyaganova twice.

The Indian did not give away a single break point, outplaying Tulyaganova in just 29 minutes to advance to the second round of the season's first Grand Slam.

If Sania is able to get past the second-round hurdle, she will have a possible showdown with eighth seed American Venus Williams.

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