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Sania through to Japan Open quarters

Second seed Sania Mirza survived a scare from Australian Casey Dellacqua before beating her in a keenly-contested three-setter to advance to the quarterfinals of USD 175,000 Japan Open in Tokyo on Wednesday.

Sania came through 6-4, 3-6, 6-4 after a few nervous moments in her second-round match of the tier III event.

The Indian, currently ranked 29th in the world, next meets the winner of the clash between Flavia Penetta and Abigail Spears.

Mirza started off well taking the first set 6-4 but Dellacqua fought back in the second, breaking Mirza early to level matters, winning the second set 6-3. In the decider, Mirza stepped up the pace and took the match 6-4.

Also moving into the quarter-finals was Klara Zakopalova of the Czech Republic who beat wild card Urszula Radwanska of Poland 6-2, 3-6, 6-2.

Mirza’s path has been made somewhat simpler with the elimination of third seed Maria Kirilenko, who lost in the first round. Third seed Kirilenko was expected to be the stiffest test for Mirza in the bottom half of the draw.

American Venus Williams is the tournament’s top seed.

Mirza had already entered the women’s doubles quarter-final on Tuesday.