Sania qualifies for US Open main draw

New York, Aug 28 (IANS) India’s Sania Mirza entered the main draw of US Open tennis with a 6-1, 1-6, 6-3 victory over Colombia’s Catalina Castano in the third and last qualifying round.

With the win Friday, Sania now leads 3-0 head-to-head against 31-year-old Castano.

The 23-year-old Indian raced away with the first set in 30 minutes but her game fell apart in the second. She saved four break points in the decider and broke her opponent’s serve twice while dropping her’s once to win the set and the match, which lasted nearly two hours.

It is for the first time since 2005 that Sania, whose ranking has dipped to 160, had to play in a Grand Slam qualifiers.

Her best singles performance here came in 2005 when she reached the fourth round. She also reached the doubles quarterfinals here in 2007.