Sania 59th in WTA rankings

New Delhi, Aug 2. (PTI) Sania Mirza's consistent performance is paying well for the increasingly popular player on the international circuit as she jumped another five places to be placed 59th in the latest WTA rankings on Monday.

Sania, who climbed up to 64th from 70th last week, has substantially improved her rankings in a fortnight reaching closer to her goal of breaking among the top 50 players by the next year.

The Indian had a lucky last week when she reached the second round of the Stanford WTA tournament where she lost to Wimbledon champion Venus Williams in front of a sellout crowd.

The 18-year-old, who entered the main draw as a lucky loser following Chanda Rubin's withdrawal due to an ankle injury, had clinched a hard fought 7-6 (4), 2-6, 6-3 victory against Greek Eleni Daniilidou in the first round.

Sania, on her WTA tournaments in tune up to US Open, the fourth and final Grand Slam of the year, is working with the help of her travelling coach John Farrington of Bahamas.