Sania Now 28th

A two-week long absence from the court cost Sania Mirza one place each in singles and doubles WTA rankings, which were released on Monday. Sania now stands at 28th in singles and 19th in doubles.

Sania is out of action since her early exit from the last grand slam of the season -- the US Open, has been nursing a wrist injury which also forced her to miss the Sunfeast Open WTA event which concluded in Kolkata yesterday.

Interestingly, the newly-crowned Sunfeast Open champion Maria Kirilenko of Russia is lying just one place below the Indian in the singles ranking. By virtue of her title triumph in Kolkata yesterday, she climbed up six places to be placed at the 29th spot.

US Open: Sania Lost in 3rd Round

Russian star Anna Chakvetadze dashed Sania's hope at the US Open by thrashing her good friend 6-2, 6-3 in less than an hour. Chakvetadze ousted Mirza in a Hobart semi-final in January and defeated her again in July at a Cincinnati semi-final and the final at Stanford. The Russian won the title in each of those tournaments.

On Thursday, in her 2nd round match, Sania, seeded 26th, defeated the unseeded American, Laura Granville 6-3, 7-5.

Sania partnered American Bethania Mattek in the women's doubles and the 16th seeded Indian-American duo won Thursday's first round encounter 6-2, 6-1 against Severine Bremond of France and Jelena Jankovic of Serbia, and now face Jarmila Gajdosoca of Slovakia and Australian Bryanne Stewart in the second round.