Sania loses in first round

Sania Mirza crashed out in the first round of women's singles event at the USD 175,000 Ordina Open tennis tournament in Rosmalen, on Monday.

The Indian ace lost 6-3, 4-6, 4-6 to Francesca Schiavone of Italy in the close to two-hour battle at the Tier III event.

Sania's serve was erratic throughout as she committed six double faults against Schiavone, who got her act together after committing as many as five double faults in the opening set.

Sania was off to a good start and broke Schiavone twice in the first set to go 1-0 up but things went haywire for the 20-year-old after that as her opponent staged a comeback.

The Italian broke Sania twice in the second set before making it 1-1 and take the match into a decider.

In the decider, Schiavone broke Sania once besides holding her own serve after saving five break points to come out on top. Schiavone will now be up against Russia's Anna Chakvetadze in the second round.