This Article is From Jan 24, 2010

Sania's Australian campaign comes to an end

Melbourne: Sania Mirza's campaign at the Australian Open ended after the Indian and her Spanish partner Virginia Ruano Pascual bowed out in the second round of the doubles event here on Sunday.

The 10th-seeded Indo-Spanish pair lost 4-6, 3-6 to seventh seeds Alisa Kleybanova of Russia and Francesca Schiavone of Italy.

Sania had already crashed out of the singles event, losing 4-6, 2-6 to 27th seed Aravani Rezai of France in the opening round.

To add to her misery, the 23-year-old Hyderabadi and Mahesh Bhupathi, who were the defending champions, had to pull out of the mixed doubles event, due to a calf muscle injury sustained by the latter.

Meanwhile, India's challenge in the boys event also ended after Vaidik Munshaw went down against 13th seed Belgian Arthur De Greef 4-6 6-7(5) in the first round.

However, Rishika Sunkara brought some smiles to Indian camp after defeating Miyu Kato of Japan 6-4 6-2 to enter the second round.

The 16-year-old Sunkara, who had to play the qualifier to make it to the main draw of the girls singles, will next take on third seeded Daria Gavrilova of Russia.
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