By Jilawatan

Indian tennis sensation Sania Mirza is all set to open her 2010 campaign at the ASB Classic in Auckland, New Zealand next week.

The 32-women draw includes 8 players ranked inside the top 30 in the world. Headlining the draw is world no.12 Flavia Pennetta who is the top seed and will open her campaign against American Jill Craybas. At the other end of the draw is world no.15, Chinese superstar Na Li, who will start against Estonian Kaia Kanepi.

Sania’s 1st round opponent is Swiss teenager Stefanie Voegele who is ranked 75th in the world. The two girls have never played each other before in singles competition. Should she get past Voegel she could run into good friend and 4th seed Francesca Schiavone in the 2nd round. Mirza fans will remember that the Italian dished out a 6-2, 6-1drubbing to Sania in the semi-finals in Osaka as recently as October 2009.

Sania had a good start to 2009 after a long lay off from injury had curtailed most of her 2008 season. A first ever Grand Slam title alongside fellow Indian Mahesh Bhupathi at the Australian Open was followed by a final appearance at Pattaya City where she was beaten by top seed Vera Zvonareva. The rest of the year however failed to live up to the early promise, though she did improve her world ranking by 42 places ending the year ranked 57th in the world.

Other attractions for fans in Auckland include 3rd seed Yanina Wickmayer, a semi-finalist at the US Open last year. The Belgian had had a one year ban slapped on her for non-compliance with the dope testing ‘whereabouts’ rule, which a Belgian court suspended after she appealed against it. Defending champion Elena Dementieva has skipped the event, opting to play for Russia in the Hopman Cup instead, though 2009 losing finalist Elena Vesnina will not disappoint her growing legions of fans in New Zealand. Vesnina is the 6th seed at this year’s event.