Sania Mirza to face stiff competition in doubles

Sania Mirza and her American partner Corina Morariu face tough opponents in the opening round of the women’s doubles in the Australian Open, 2006. The duo will play Svetlana Kuznetsova of Russia and Amelie Mauresmo of France. Kuznetsova and Mauresmo are seeded 14th in the tournament. Sania and her partner have been included in the second segment of the draw in this year’s Australian Open. The draw also contains the (2, 4, 7, 8, 9, 12, 14, 15)th seeds.

Morariu, a former world No.1 in doubles, is ranked 11th in the WTA Doubles Rankings, while Sania is 109th. The American had won the Wimbledon title partnering Lindsay Davenport in 1999. The duo were runners-up at the Australian Open last year. On the other hand, Kuznetsova is 7th in the Doubles Rankings while Mauresmo occupies the 58th place.

The match is supposed to be an exciting one as Kuznetsova will try to avenge her defeat to the Indian ace at the Dubai Open last year. The match is scheduled to be played on Thursday, 19 January.

Sania meanwhile also has her singles match on the same day. Sania defeated Victoria Azarenka of Belarus 7-6(8), 6-2 in the first round and will now face Michaella Krajicek of Russia.