IANS

London, June 23: India's Sania Mirza made light of the second set loss to outlast German Anna-Lena Groenefeld 6-2, 2-6, 6-2 in the opening round at the Wimbledon tennis championships here Monday.

The 22-year-old Hyderabadi maintained her unbeaten record against the 52nd ranked German, beating her for the third successive time. She next plays 28th-seeded Romanian Sorana Cirstea, who beat compatriot Edina Gallovits 7-5, 6-1.

Sania looked good to wrap up the match in straight sets but a lapse in concentration saw her literally throw away the second set.

The 85th-ranked Indian sprinted to a 4-1 lead in the first set and with another break in the seventh game, comfortably served out the set.

However, Groenefeld, after saving three breakpoints in the first game of the second set, came back strongly to break Sania immediately. The Indian was erratic and only in the fourth game could she hold her serve for the first time in the set. Sania then broke Groenefeld immediately at love to reduce the deficit.

However, it turned out to be a temporary reprieve for the Indian as the German effected another break to go 4-2 ahead. Groenefeld then broke Sania in the eighth game to make it set-all.

In the decider, Sania regrouped her game and with couple of early breaks swiftly moved ahead 5-1, before the German held for the second time in the set. With an ace, Sania set up the match point, which she converted with a backhand winner.