Uphill task over, faces mountain ahead

India’s Sania Mirza made the most of her lucky loser status with an upset victory over the big-serving Eleni Daniilidou of Greece 7-6, 2-6, 6-3 to move into the second round of the Stanford Classic on Tuesday.

In another surprise result, Russian fifth seed Vera Zvonareva continued her run of poor form with a lacklustre 6-3, 1-6, 7-6 defeat at the hands of American qualifier Meghann Shaughnessy.

Mirza was beaten in the final round of qualifying but slipped into the draw when Chanda Rubin pulled out with an injury. The 18-year-old prospect adopted an aggressive approach and was rewarded with a well-earned victory over Daniilidou, who upset Justine Henin-Hardenne at Wimbledon last month. Daniilidou owns one of the tour’s biggest serves but Mirza had few problems picking it up. (Reuters)