Cincinnati (USA), Aug 14: Sania Mirza battled past former doubles partner Vania King in the qualifiers of the WTA Premier event in Cincinnati but Somdev Devvarman''s main draw hopes ended after a straight set defeat in the ATP Masters tournament here.

Sania scored a hard fought 7-6(4) 2-6 7-6(5) win over the American in the opening round of the USD 2,050,000 had court event.

She next faces local wild card Alexa Glatch.

In the ATP event, running simultaneously, 65th ranked Somdev bowed out of the qualifiers after losing his first round 4-6 6-7(3) to Turkey''s Marsel Ilhan, who is ranked 108th in the ranking charts.

PTI