Sania in Cincinnati Quarter Final

Third-seeded Sania Mirza of India became the first quarterfinalist at $175000 Cincinnati Open or the WTA Western & Southern Financial Group Women’s Open with a 6-2, 6-2 victory over Varvara Lepchenko of Uzbekistan on Wednesday.

This victory marked the first time she has put together back-to-back victories since February. Mirza will make her third quarterfinals appearance in three visits to the Western & Southern Financial Group tournament. She lost last year to this year’s second seed and the 2005 champion, Patty Schnyder, and to seventh-seeded Akiko Morigami in 2005.

Sania now awaits the winner of the second-round match between ninth-seeded Jill Craybas of the United States and Olga Govortsova of Belarus.

Yesterday, Top seeds Sania and Bethanie Mettack cruised into the quarter-finals after a straight set win over the Colombian-Chinese pair of Catalina Castano and Meng Yuan.