Sania Mirza in second round, early exit for Somdev Devvarman

New York, Aug 31 : India’s Sania Mirza won her fourth match on the trot to cruise to the second round of US Open but Somdev Devvarman made an early exit losing his opening round in the men’s singles event.

Sania, who entered the women’s singles as a qualifier, won 6-3, 6-2 win over fellow qualifier Michelle Larcher de Brito of Portugal in the first-round match.

Somdev, who is world No.99 and earned a direct entry into a Grand Slam for the first time, went down fighting against the South Africa’s Kevin Anderson 3-6, 4-6, 3-6 in his first round in the men’s singles event.

With the defeat, Somdev also fails to go beyond the first round in Grand Slams this season.

He had failed to qualify for the Australian Open and the Wimbledon and lost in the first round of the French Open.

A second round appearance at the US Open last year remains his best performance in the Slams.

Sania took one hour and 17 minutes to dispatch her rival and set up a second round clash with Russian 20th seed Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova.

“For me, the fact that I am still capable of going on court and winning four matches in a row gives me a lot of confidence that I still have the ability,” said Sania.

“I am just going to enjoy it. I was happy when I won the first round of the qualifiers and I am happy again today. I love playing here on the hardcourts in New York and always seem to do well here,” she added.