Sania out in first round

New Delhi: Sania Mirza’s woeful run of form continued and the Indian ace crashed out of the WTA Bank of the West Classic tournament with a straight-set opening round defeat at the hands of British qualifier Anne Keothavong in Stanford, United States.

The world number 33 Sania went down 6-7 (4) 1-6 to number 83 Keothavong in a one-hour-twenty-minute contest.

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Rohan stuns top seed

New Delhi: Unseeded Rohan Gajjar toppled top seeded Riccardo Ghedin of Italy in straight sets to advance to the singles second round of the $15,000 ITF men’s event in Damascus in Syria.

Gajjar defeated Ghedin, who is placed 375 rungs above him in the ITF ranking charts, 7-6(7/4), 6-2 in the first round of the hard court event.

Gajjar also advanced to the quarterfinals of the doubles event along with compatriot Ranjeet Virali-Murugesan after posting an easy straight sets win in the first round.

The second seeded Indian pair defeated Nigerian pair Sunday Emmanuel and Candy Idoko 6-3, 6-1.

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Parija, Parul crash out

New Delhi: Indian women came a cropper at $10,000 ITF event in Casablanca in Morocco as both Parija Maloo and National Games champion Parul Goswami were sent packing in the first round of the clay court competition. Maloo seeded eighth was demolished 0-6, 3-6 by local favourite Habiba Ifrackh. Parul conceded her match to Carmen Lopez-Rueda.

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Mankad loses singles

New Delhi: Indian Davis Cupper Harsh Mankad had a mixed day as he was knocked out of the singles event but advanced to the doubles quarterfinals in the Euro 30,000 Manchester Trophy Challenger in England on Wednesday. Mankad’s singles campaign met with a disappointing end when he lost 0-6, 3-6 to Czech Republic qualifier Cakl Tomas.