Sania in main draw

New Delhi: Sania Mirza fought off a tough challenge from Kateryna Bondarenko of Ukraine to win the final qualifying round 6-4, 7-6 (7-2) and advance to the main draw of the $1.3 million Acura Classic in San Diego.

Playing before a large crowd at the grandstand, Sania, seeded No.1 in qualifying, overcame two service breaks in the first set and went on to win the set in 29 minutes.

At 3-3 in the second set, Sania and Bondarenko, ranked 196th, exchanged service breaks and the set eventually went to a tiebreak.

Sania, the first Indian to win a WTA Tour title, then took a 3-2 lead in the tiebreaker and won the last four points to close the match on Sunday.

Earlier, Sania won the first round defeating Galina Voskoboeva of Russia, 6-1, 6-1.

Sania dropped serve only once and converted six of eight break points.

The 18-year old is drawn to play another qualifier, Tathiana Garbin of Italy, in the main draw first round.

She is in the same half that features US Open champion Svetlana Kuznetzova of Russia, seeded second.

Another Indian in the qualifiers, Shikha Uberoi, lost in the second round 1-6, 0-6 to Aiko Nakamura of Japan.