Sify
 
London, Aug 22: Having warmed-up for the US Open with impressive performances in the past few weeks, Sania Mirza has received yet another fillip by becoming the first Indian woman to be seeded in the season's last Grand Slam. The 20-year-old has been seeded 26th at the championship, which gets underway at the Flushing Meadows in New York from August 27.

Sania, who reached a career-high WTA ranking of 28 last week, is likely to get an easy first-round draw as a result of her seeding.

The Indian, who chose to stay off the court this week, has had an impressive build-up to the championship, reaching the semifinals of Cincinnati Open, followed by a runner-up finish at the WTA event in Stanford last month.

For the Hyderabadi-girl, the high has come after a rollercoaster season so far. She made a good start to her year, reaching the semifinals of a WTA event in Hobart.

However, a second-round exit from the Australian Open set off a series of failures for her as she struggled with a knee injury and an indifferent form for the next few months.