Sania crosses first hurdle, Somdev crashes out

Sania Mirza won her fourth match on the trot to cruise to the second round of US Open but it was an early exit for Somdev Devvarman, who lost his opening round in the men’s singles event.

Sania, who entered the women’s singles as a qualifier, scored an easy 6-3, 6-2 win over fellow qualifier Michelle Larcher de Brito of Portugal in the first-round match.

Somdev, who earned a direct entry into a Grand Slam for the first time, went down fighting against the South Africa’s Kevin Anderson 3-6 4-6 3-6 in his first round in the men’s singles event.

The defeat means that Somdev has not gone beyond the first round in Grand Slams this season.

He had failed to qualify for the Australian Open and the Wimbledon and lost in the first round of the French Open.

A second round appearance at the U.S. Open last year remains his best performance in the Slams.

It took Sania one hour and 17 minutes to dispatch her rival and set up a second round clash with Russian 20th seed Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova.

“For me, the fact that I am still capable of going on court and winning four matches in a row gives me a lot of confidence that I still have the ability,” the number one female Indian player said after her win.

“I am just going to enjoy it. I was happy when I won the first round of the qualifiers and I am happy again today. I love playing here on the hard courts in New York and always seem to do well here,” she added.

Sania was forced to go through the qualifiers of Grand Slam for the first time since 2005 due to low ranking.

Poor form and wrist injury dented her ranking heavily as she is languishing at 159 in world.