By Jilawatan

Sania Mirza of India advanced into the second round of ASB Classic tennis on Tuesday. She defeated Swiss teenager Stefanie Voegele by 5-7, 6-1, 7-5 in the opening round clash. However the Indian ace lost in the doubles opener with her partner Virginia Ruano Pascual.

The second seeded pair of Sania and Pascual were ousted by Dominika Cibulkova and Yanina Wickmayer 6-1, 7-6 (6).In the singles, an erratic first set saw seven breaks of serve before Voegele closed it in her favour.

The Indian rebounded into the game in the second set, breaking the Swiss thrice to make it a set all. In the decider, Sania wrapped up the match in her favour in just under two hours.

Sania will now challenge fourth-seeded Italian Francesca Schiavone, who outclassed French qualifier Stephanie Cohen-Aloro by 6-2, 6-3. Sania has suffered defeat at the hands of Schiavone in three previous encounters, the most recent in the semifinals at Osaka last year.