Bangalore India's Sania Mirza defeated Germany's Martina Muller 6-2 6-2 to advance to the second round of the $175,000 Bangalore Open on Tuesday night.
Another Indian Isha Lakhani, too, advanced to the second round while fourth seeded Sybille Bammer of Austria and eighth seeded Emma Laine of Finland made first round exit in the $175,000 WTA Bangalore Open on Tuesday.
Lakhani, a wild card entrant, was leading 4-1 in the first set when her Slovakian unseeded rival and the world No 296 Katarina Kachlikova pulled out after aggravating an eye infection.
Third seeded Mara Santengelo of Italy secured a berth to the second round with a convincing 6-3, 6-2 win over Henrieta Nagyova (Slovakia) in the Tier-III event at the Karnataka State Lawn Tennis Association courts.
The Italian, who reached her first tour quarterfinal in singles at Pattaya last week, was joined in the round of 16 by unseeded American Vania King, who put out qualifier Tatiana Poutchek of Belarus 6-1, 6-3.
It was Lakhani's first win in a WTA event.
"I am lucky," she said. "The win would have been more credible had I won playing."
Lakhani, taking part in her fourth WTA tournament, said: "I have nothing to lose. All I can gain is experience."
Meanwhile, Tzipora Obziler of Israel moved into thepre-quarter-finals beating Chinese Taipei's Su-Wei Hsieh in a match between two unseeded players.
Lakhani, ranked 488 in the world, now clashes with Ukraine's Yuliana Fedak for a place in the quarter-final.
Fedak accounted for Laine, the 19-year-old from Helsinki, who retired after complaining of acute tonsilitis. Fedak was leading 6-3, 3-1.
Russia's Anastassia Rodionova, unseeded, shocked Bammer, the world number 6-5, 6-4, 5-7, 6-0. Though Bammer pulled one back in the second set, she could not stop the Russian, who was on a roll in the final game.
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