Indian Wells (California), March 13 (IANS) India's Sania Mirza rallied from a set down to beat Mariya Koryttseva of Ukraine 2-6, 6-3, 6-2 in the first round of the $4.5 million BNP Paribas Open here.
The 87th-ranked Indian wildcard Thursday struggled with her serve initially and was broken thrice by her 96th-ranked opponent in the first set. But 22-year-old Sania bounced back to win the other two sets and closed the match in 89 minutes.
In the second round, Sania will face World No. 15 and 12th-seeded Italian Flavia Pennetta, who had a bye in the first round. The two players have split their previous four meetings.
This is Sania's third appearance here. She reached the third round on her debut in 2006 and made a quarter-final appearance last year.
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