BANGALORE (India), Feb 14: Top-seeded Indian Sania Mirza ruled the center court as she demolished German Martina Mueller 6-2, 6-2 in the first round of the 175,000-dollar WTA Bangalore Open tournament on Tuesday.

The 23-year-old Muller’s serve was broken thrice in the first and second sets by the Indian ace, who unleashed a barrage of powerful forehand strokes.

“It was a good match for me,” said Sania, who became the first Indian woman to reach the Australian Open third round and the US Open fourth round last year.

“I wanted to wrap it up early and have an early night. But she fought well,” said 19-year-old Sania.

Italy’s Mara Santangelo, seeded third, was the only other top player to survive the first round as fourth-seed Sybille Bammer of Austria and Finland’s Emma Laine, seeded eighth, crashed out of the tournament.

Russia’s Anastassia Rodionova scored a surprise 6-4, 5-7, 6-0 victory over Bammer to move into the second round.

Rodionova proved too strong for her opponent with her powerful serves and double-handed returns.

“In the second set she clawed back with good serves. I remained consistent with my game and it was not easy to beat a seeded player,” Rodionova said after battling for almost two hours.

Laine, suffering from an acute throat infection, pulled out in the fourth game of the second set after losing the first at 6-3. She was trailing 2-1 in the second.

India’s wild-card entrant Isha Lakhani was lucky to advance to the second round as Slovakia’s Katarina Kachlikova conceded the match due to an eye infection. The Indian was leading 4-1 in the first set.

“I am lucky to go to the next round. It would have been more credible if I won the game to reach the next stage,” Lakhani said.

“Whoever is my next opponent I think I have nothing to lose. For me this event is all about gaining experience.”

On Monday, fifth-seeded Japanese Aiko Nakamura and seventh-seed Elena Vesnina of Russia bowed out of the tournament.

Results

Sania Mirza (India) bt Martina Mueller (Germany) 6-2 6-2; Isha Lakhani (India) bt Katarina Kachlikova (Slovakia) 4-1 (Kachlikova retired); Kaia Kanepi (Estonia) bt Ankita Bhambri (India) 7-5 6-3; Alla Kudryavtseva (Russia) bt Tamarine Tanasugarn (Thailand) 4-6 6-3 7-5; Tzipora Obziler (Israel) bt Su-Wei Hsieh (Taiwan) 6-3 6-4; Vania King (U.S.) bt Tatiana Poutchek (Belarus) 6-1 6-3; Anastassia Rodionova (Russia) bt Sybille Bammer (Austria) 6-4 5-7 6-0; 3-Mara Santangelo (Italy) bt Henrieta Nagyova (Slovakia) 6-3 6-2; Yuliana Fedak (Ukraine) bt Emma Laine (Finland) 6-3 2-1 (Laine retired).

Telmexr Open results

Buneos Aires: First round results of the Copa Telmex championship on Monday.

Potito Starace (Italy) bt Juan Monaco (Argentina) 6-3 6-3;

Guillermo Coria (Argentina) bt Jiri Vanek (Czech Republic) 6-1 2-6-2

7-6(2);

Juan Carlos Ferrero (Spain) bt Juan Martin Del Potro (Argentina) 6-2

4-6 6-4;

Tomas Behrend (Germany) bt Carlos Berlocq (Argentina) 7-6(1) 6-4;

Boris Pasanski (Serbia and Montenegro) bt Juan Pablo Brzezicki

(Argentina) 6-4 5-7 7-5.—Agencies