Sania fails to make main draw of Rogers Cup

Sania Mirza's poor run in women's singles continued, as she failed to qualify for the WTA Rogers Cup after losing in a marathon three-setter to Germany's Kathrin Woerle in the qualifiers, in Toronto.

The 11th seed Indian squandered a set's lead and eventually went down 7-6(5), 5-7, 3-6 in the second and final round of the qualifying event, in two hours and 40 minutes.

Before this tournament, Sania had lost in the first rounds of the Citi Open and Mercury Insurance Open after returning from a three-week break.

She, however, did well in doubles, winning the title at the Citi Open with new partner Yaroslav Shvedova of Kazakhstan.

Sania now has two more tournaments to prepare for the US Open, the last Grand Slam tournament of the season.

Meanwhile, third seeds Leander Paes-Mahesh Bhupathi got a bye to the second round of the ATP Rogers Cup, in Montreal.

The Indo-Pak pair of Rohan Bopanna-Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi, seeded fifth, as all the eight seeded pairs, also got a first round bye.

Bopanna-Qureshi could run into top seeded American twins Mike and Bob Bryan in the quarter-finals, if both pairs win their respective second round matches.

There is the possibility of Bopanna-Qureshi meeting Paes-Bhuapthi in the semi-finals, if both teams go on to win all their matches till that stage.

No Indian is competing in the singles event.