Auckland: India's Sania Mirza rallied from a set down to beat Swiss teenager Stefanie Voegele 5-7, 6-1, 7-5 in the opening round of ASB Classic tennis in Auckland on Tuesday. She, however, lost in the doubles opener with new partner Virginia Ruano Pascual.
Sania and Pascual, seeded second, bowed out to Dominika Cibulkova and Yanina Wickmayer 6-1, 7-6 (6).
In the singles, an erratic first set saw seven breaks of serve before Voegele closed it in her favour.
But the Indian came back strongly in the second set, breaking the Swiss thrice to make it a set all. In the decider, Sania overcame Voegele's fightback to wrap up the match in just under two hours.
Sania now plays fourth-seeded Italian Francesca Schiavone, who dispatched French qualifier Stephanie Cohen-Aloro 6-2, 6-3. Sania has not beaten Schiavone in three previous encounters, the most recent in the semifinals at Osaka last year.
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