India pinning Australian Open hopes on Sania

MELBOURNE: Sania Mirza would once again carry the hopes of a billion Indians as she kicks off her campaign at the Australian Open with a first round match against Ukrainian Olga Savchuk on Tuesday.

Backed by her success at Doha Asian Games, Sania started the new year on a positive note to make it to the semifinals of Hobart International tournament and improve her ranking to 53rd in the second week of the season.

Going by her form, unseeded Sania should not find it difficult to get past 102-ranked Olga and improve upon her last year's performance when she bowed out after the second round.

When the Hyderabadi locks horns with Olga at Court No. 2 (5.30 am IST) at the Rebound Ace, she would count on her experience of playing in two previous editions of the season opening Grand Slam.

In 2005, Sania had burst on to the international stage after reaching the third round here but disappointed last year with her early exit.

On the other hand, Olga had reached the third round in her debut Australian Open last year.

If Sania beats the Ukrainian in the first round, she will face the winner of the match between 32nd seeded Eleni Danilidou of Greece and Aiko Nakamura of Japan in the next encounter.

In the doubles, Sania has paired with Anabel Medina Garrigues of Spain.

The 10th seeded Indo-Spanish duo will take on Sandra Kloesel of Germany and Aravane Rezai of France.