Sania Mirza beat Finland's Emma Laine 6-1, 0-6, 6-1 in the second round to set up a quarter-final clash with top seed Patty Schnyder of Switzerland in the 175,000 dollar Cincinnati Open here.
Sania won the see-saw battle against the Fin, who made a dramatic comeback after being a set down to blank the Indian in the second but eventually ran out of steam against the ninth seed.
The Indian teen made a confident start helped, to some extent, by the mistakes committed by her opponent who double faulted four times in the first set itself. Sania smashed 27 winners compared to the 12 by Emma to run away with the opener.
After a dominant start, Sania was expected to walk away with the match in the second set but that was not to be and Emma gave the Indian a shock by raising her game. The Fin held on to her serve and broke the Indian once, who didn't help her cause by committing two double faults, before winning the set and taking the match into a decider.
Shaken by the second set beating, the ninth seed was at her aggressive best in the third as she hammered in three aces and 29 winners -- in addition to breaking Emma thrice -- to seal the match in her favour after one and a half hour.
{{/usCountry}}Shaken by the second set beating, the ninth seed was at her aggressive best in the third as she hammered in three aces and 29 winners -- in addition to breaking Emma thrice -- to seal the match in her favour after one and a half hour.
{{/usCountry}}The win has set her up against top seed Schnyder who, after a scrappy start, has picked up her game well.
Among the other Indians in the fray, Shikha Uberoi and her Canadian partner Maureen Drake were beaten 6-0, 1-6, 3-6 in the doubles second round by top seeds Maria Elena of Italy and Argentine Gisela Dulko.
Shikha and Maureen made a solid start but the unseeded duo could not maintain the tempo against the top seeds, who lived up to their billing by coming back after being a set down to oust the Indo-Canadian pair from the tournament.