Sania beat Thai Tamarine to move into quarterfinal

Pattaya, Thailand, Feb 7 (UNI) Sania Mirza braved defiant Tamarine Tanasugarn and a partisan crowd to beat the Thai girl 6-4, 2-6, 6-1 in a second round match and advance into quarterfinals of the 170,000 dollar Pattaya Open tennis tournament here today.

Sania encountered a spirited challenge and was stretched before the fifth seed Indian regrouped her wits to have the last laugh.

After clinching the first set 6-4, the Hyderabadi dropped the guard allowing the Thai girl to draw parity. However, Sania took a game to a notch higher and dropped just one game to take the set and the match.

Sania runs into third seed Mara Santangelo of Italy who crushed Russian Alla Kudryavtseva to move into Round of Eight.

UNI