India's Sania Mirza carried her good form in the Dubai Tennis Championships, overpowering Russian Ekaterina Makarova 7-5, 6-2.
Sania, who was given a wildcard in the tournament, was backed by a large Indian community in Dubai as she recovered from an early drop of serve by breaking Makarova in the eighth game and dominating from there on.
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The Indian, who reached Pattaya Open final last week, took the charge in the second set allowing the Russian just two games.
Sania now plays the 16th-seeded Estonian Kaia Kanepi with the winner likely to face the former world No. 1 Jelena Jankovic of Serbia in the third round.
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