Sania to take on Kanepi in 1st round

Seeded 26th in the upcoming US Open, Sania will open her campaign against 44th-ranked Estonian Kaia Kanepi.

Being the first Indian woman to be seeded at the US Open earned Sania Mirza a relatively easy draw and the Hyderabadi would kick off her campaign in the Grand Slam event with a first-round outing against Estonian Kaia Kanepi.

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World number 28 Sania, seeded 26th in the season's last Grand Slam, would be facing the 44th-ranked Kanepi for the first time in her career.

Both Sania and Kanepi had made third-round exits at Flushing Meadows last year.

If Sania overcomes the challenge from her unseeded opponent, she will be up against the winner of the other first-round match between 24th seeded Francesca Schiavone of Italy and Nathalie Dechy of France.

The only area where the 22-year-old Kanepi stands above Sania is her height. The Estonian, who is 5'11, is however, way behind in other statistics.

While Sania has to her credit a WTA title in 2005 Hyderabad Open, Kanepi is yet to make her mark at the WTA circuit despite having a few ITF titles to her name.

Sania will go into the championship high on confidence after her impressive performance on the US hardcourts this season.