Sania-Mara enter second round in Bangalore

Bangalore, Feb 14 (UNI) India's Sania Mirza and Mara Santenglo of Italy started on a winning note, defeating Akghul Amanmuradova of Uzbekistan and Tatiana Poutchek of Bulgaria in straight sets 6-2, 7-6 (4) to progress into the second round of the women's doubles at the Sony Ericsson International here.

The second-seeded Sania-Santenglo pair, had it easy in the first set but Akgul-Tatina pair fought back to lead 5-4 in the second set before the Indo-Italian pair regained their composure to win the set.

This was the first time Sania paired with Santenglo.

Last year, the Hyderabadi lass had won the doubles title partnering with Liezel Huber of Russia.

UNI