Sania lucky loser in Stanford

The maxim 'fortune favours the brave' came true for Sania Mirza as she earned a main draw entry as a lucky loser after a heartbreaking defeat in a thrilling final qualifying round at the USD 585,000 WTA Tour event in Stanford, USA.

Sania put up a brave fight before going down 2-6, 6-7 (10/12) to Israeli Shahar Peer on Monday, but she entered the main draw after Chanda Rubin pulled out with an ankle inflammation.

Sania will now play wild card Eleni Daniilidou, currently ranked 58th in the world. A win over the Grecian would pit the 18-year old Indian against second seed Venus Williams who has a bye in the first round.

Interestingly, a win over Peer could have set up a repeat clash with German Anna-Lena Groenefeld whom Sania defeated in the first round at Cincinnati. Groenefeld now will tackle Peer in the top half of the draw.

However, there was no such luck for the Uberoi sisters, Shikha and Neha, as both went down in the final round of the qualifiers.

Shikha went down to Marissa Irvin of the US 6-2, 6-4 while Neha, who represents her adopted country, the USA, lost to Alina Jidkova of Russia 6-4, 6-4.

The trio had scored tough wins in the earlier rounds, with both Sania and Shikha knocking out a top-100 player each.

Sania accounted for Maureen Drake and Lindsay Lee-Waters, ranked 96th, while  Shikha overcame local challengers Shenay Perry and Jill Craybas (58).

Neha on the other hand tamed Teryn Ashley and Melen Tu, both her compatriots.