Miami: India’s Sania Mirza went down to France’s Mathilde Johansson in an over two hour duel in the first round of the Sony Ericsson Open tennis here.
Sania, who was given a wildcard, battled for two hour and 22 minutes before losing 6-1, 6-7 (2), 6-7 (8) Wednesday.
In men’s singles, Yuki Bhambri gave a good account of himself before going down 4-6, 3-6 to World No. 73 Diego Junqueira of Argentina in the first round.
Yuki, whose resounding junior Australian Open triumph made him an instant star in India, received a wildcard for the $4.5 million tournament after winning the prestigious Orange Bowl tournament in December.
Sania, who is ranked 100 in singles, swiftly ran through the first set before World No. 65 Johannson turned on the heat in a match that featured 19 breaks of serve.
Johansson held her nerve in the tie-breakers to reach the second round where she will face Russian No. 2 seed Dinara Safina.
Sania will open her doubles campaign with partner Chia-Jung Chuang of Chinese Taipei against the Czech pair of Iveta Benesova and Barbora Zahlavova Strycova.
In men’s doubles, Leander Paes and Czech Lukas Dlouhy will take on Bruno Soares of Brazil and Kevin Ullyett of Zimbabawe.
Third seed Mahesh Bhupathi and Mark Knowles of Bahamas will be up against Frenchmen Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Julien Benneteau.