Sania rallies to down Peer

The camaraderie with doubles partner Shahar Peer did not come in the way as Sania Mirza overcame the fifth seeded Israeli in three sets to reach the second round of the Japan Open tennis tournament in Osaka on Monday.

With the two players fully aware of each other's game, it was an intense one hour 52 minutes' battle, at the end of which the Indian ace finished with a hard-earned 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 victory.

Sania now faces Viktoriya Kutuzova of Ukraine, who won the first set 6-2 before her opponent Maria Kirilenko of Russia retired.

Sania broke twice but was broken thrice as she lost the first set.

In the second set, however, Sania saved three break-points to restore parity and then held sway in the decider to emerge triumphant.