Easy draw for Sania at Sunfeast Open

Sania Mirza will be up against a qualifier in the opening round of the USD 170,000 WTA Sunfeast Open scheduled to begin here on September 19.

However, the name of Sania's first round opponent would be known only tomorrow at the end of the qualifying tournament that started during the day.

As per the draw, held this afternoon at the Netaji Indoor stadium, 18-year-old Sania, who has been adjudged the third seed in the tourney, could face the winner of the opening round match between Argentina's Ma Emilia Salerni and Hungarian Melinda Czink in the second round.

Both the foreigners are way below Sania in WTA rankings. While Sania occupies the 34th slot, Salerni is ranked 103 and Czink 121.

If the results go according to the seedings, Sania, India's main hope in the event, would run into second seed Elena Likhovtseva of Russia in the semi-final.

Likhovtseva, 16th in WTA rankings, would cross swords with Yuliana Fedak of Ukraine (134th) in her lung opener.

India's Shikha Uberoi, ranked 151, also begins her campaign against a lower ranked rival in Japan's Ryoko Fuda (185).

Another interesting opening round fixture would see Shikha's younger sister Neha, who has entered the tournament as a wild card, take on Sunitha Rao, an American citizen of Indian origin.

Top seed and world number 13 Anastasia Myskina would clash with unseeded Edine Gallovtis of Romania in the first round.