Sania meets Ukrainian in opener, Bopanna advances in qualifiers

Melbourne, Jan 12 (UNI) In-form Sania Mirza will kick off her campaign with an opening round face off with Ukrainian Olga Savchuk, while her Hopman Cup teammate Rohan Bopanna cleared the first round qualifier in the Australian Open here today.

Davis Cupper Bopanna kept alive hopes of a berth in the main draw with a come-from-behind win against Tobias Clemens, ranked nearly 100 places ahead of the Indian.

Bopanna waged a grim battle for nearly two hours with the German and survived some tense moments before chalking out a 4-6 6-4 6-4 win.

Bopanna, ranked 290, will now play another higher ranked German in the second round.

Meanwhile, according to the singles draw unveiled today, Sania, buoyed after her semifinal finish in the Hobart International, would launch her campaign against the lower ranked Olga.

Provided she tames the unherladed Ukrainian and then manages to get past winner of another firstround match between Eleni Daniilidou of Greece and Japanese Aiko Nakamura, Sania would run into Martina Hingis in the third round.

Sania lost to Hingis in the Sunfeast Open in Kolkata last year but avenged the defeat within a week in Seoul in the quarterfinal of the Hansol Korea Open.

UNI