India's Sania Mirza, ranked #134 in the world, defeated world #64 Akgul Amanmuradova of Uzbekistan 6-3, 6-1 in just under an hour to advance to the second round of the WTA Dubai Open. Cheered on by a partisan crowd of Indian expats, Mirza won the match which was the last scheduled match of the evening on the Centre Court for her first WTA Tour main draw win since last September.
Mirza, who had to rely on a wild card to get into the main draw, will now play qualifier world #57 Ayumi Morita of Japan, who upset the hottest player on the tour currently, Petra Kvitova 7-6, 7-6 in 91 minutes. Just two days ago, Kvitova defeated the new world #1 Kim Clijsters in the finals of the WTA Paris Open for her second title of the year.
Mirza's win - her fourth consecutive over her Uzbek opponent - earns her 70 ranking points which will likely move her to around #120 in the new rankings next week. Mirza and Morita have played once before in 2007 when the Indian won in straight sets.
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