Sania to play Mashona in first round of US Open

Indian tennis sensation Sania Mirza will launch her fourth and final Grand Slam campaign of the year against Mashona Washington of USA when the US Open tennis tournament begins in New York on August 29.

Sania's 19-year-old opponent, who is currently ranked 56th, had her best Grand Slam performance in Wimbledon this year when she reached the third round. The six-feet one inch American has only one ITF title to her credit.

The star player, who bagged the Arjuna Award this year, has been placed in the same quarter of the draw as top seed Maria Sharapova and defending champion Svetlana Kuznetsova, who is seeded fifth this year.

Other seeds include Lindsay Davenport of USA, Amelie Mauresmo of, Kim Clijsters of Beljium, Elena Dementieva, Justin Henin-Hardenne of Belgium, Serena Williamns of USA and her two-time champion sister Venus, who is also the current Wimbledon Champion.

Sania has tuned up well with some fine performances which helped her to break into the top-50 in the run-up to the event.

The 18-year-old was troubled by stomach strain a fortnight ago but she came back into action with a successful first round at the Forest Hills, the last WTA event ahead of the US Open.