Sania handed easy draw for Australian Open

Sania Mirza was today handed a rather easy draw as she has been pitted against unheralded Ukraine's Olga Shevchuk in the first round of the Australian Open Grand Slam tennis beginning on Monday. The 19-year-old Ukrainian, ranked 103 on the WTA charts, had a highest ranking of 92 in February last after she reached the third round at the first Grand Slam of the year. Sania, if she reaches the second round, would face winner of the match between Emma Laine of Finland and a qualifier. If Sania crosses the first two hurdles, she might get a chance to face Martina Hingis of Switzerland, whom she defeated in their last meeting in the quarterfinal of the Hansol Korea Open in Seoul. Sania's best performance in the tournament was a third round appearance in her maiden season in 2005. The 20-year-old Indian had an impressive start to the season as she reached the semifinal of the Moorilla International Open in Hobart beating world number 29 Maria Kirilenko of Russia in the first round of the tournament. Among the men, Rohan Bopanna failed to make the main draw after he lost to Michael Berrer of Germany 6-7 (3/7) 3-6 in the second round of the qualifying event. The 290th ranked Bopanna had upset another German Tobias Clemens, ranked 196th, winning 4-6 6-4 6-4 in the first round.