By Jilawatan

Indian tennis ace Sania Mirza came back strongly after dropping the first set to beat Shahar Peer of Israel and enter the second round of the Japan Open here on Monday.Sania defeated the fifth seeded Peer 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 in a hard fought encounter, which lasted for an hour and 52 minutes.

The 22-year-old Indian broke her rival and frequent doubles partner Peer twice but was broken herself thrice to lose the first set.

However, in the second set Sania forced her superiority right from the start as she saved all three break points to draw level. In the decider Sania maintained her superiority and defeated Peer easily. Sania will now meet Viktoriya Kutuzova of Ukraine, who had won the first set 6-2 before her Russian opponent Maria Kirilenko retired.