French Open: Sania enters second round with convincing win

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Sania Mirza hardly broke sweat during her 6-3, 6-3 first round victory over Germany's Kristina Barrois in the French Open women's singles here on Monday.

The 72nd-ranked Indian, in her four singles appearance here, had only once crossed the first hurdle in 2007. She was in a sublime touch against her world no.73 opponent. The 24-year-old Indian was strong on both the flanks and her groundstrokes had the punch to leave Barrois scurrying to corners. Sania also had a better first serve percentage of 77 as compared to Barrois' 57.

The Indian's seven double faults were the only blip in her otherwise convincing performance. She raced away with the first set in 34 minutes, breaking the German in the fourth and the eighth game. The Indian carried the momentum in the second round and with a superb forehand down the line broke Barrois in the third game. She, however, squandered the advantage in the sixth game but broke back immediately to nose ahead.

A backhand error by Barrois in the ninth game gave Sania two match points and she sealed the set and the match with a backhand down the line. Sania will next play the winner of the match between Austria's Patricia Mayr-Achleitner and 12th seed Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland.