Sania reaches 3rd round in San Diego

The Indian ace overcomes a stiff challenge from Eleni Daniilodou 7-6 (1), 6-3 to reach the third round of the Acura Classic.

Sania Mirza continued with her demolition act as she stormed her way into the third round of the 1.3 million dollar Acura Classic women's tennis event at San Diego.

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The 20-year-old Indian overcame a stiff challenge from Eleni Daniilidou of Greece to notch up a 7-6 (1) 6-3 win in the second round of the WTA Tour Tier 1 hard court event on Wednesday.

The Hyderabadi next faces World No. 14 and eighth seed, Dinara Safina of Russia, in the round of 16 at the tournament.

A win against Safina, younger sister of the maveric Marat Safin, could pit Sania against former Wimbledon champion Maria Sharapova in what would be a replay of their US Open fourth round clash in 2005.

Sania was also in sublime form in the doubles, where she partnered with Israel's Shahar Peer to score a facile first round victory.

Sania and Peer defeated Angelika Bachmann of Germany and Czech Republic's Hana Smorova 6-4, 6-0 to enter the second round.