Thursday, August 4 2005 15:37 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

USA: Sania Mirza continued her impressive form on the WTA tour crushing fourth seeded Russian Nadia Petrova in straight sets 6-2, 6-1 in the second round at the 1.3 million-dollar Tier I tournament in San Diego, USA.

The 18-year-old Indian, striding towards her goal of making it to the top-50 in world rankings, humbled World No. 8 Petrova in just 53 minutes to set up a clash with Japan's Akiko Morigami in the third round.

The win against the top-10 player would give Sania many bonus points and speed up her entry into the top-50 bracket.

The Hyderabad girl, currently ranked 59th on the WTA rankings, had posted a similar thumping victory over World No. 78 Tathiana Garbin of Italy in the first round at the La Costa Resort and Spa venue on Tuesday.

After beginning the year with an impressive third round appearance in the Australian Open, before losing to eventual Serena Williams, Sania won her first WTA title at Hyderabad Open in February before missing the tour with an ankle injury.

She also beat reigning US Open champion Svetlana Kuznetsova of Russia in Dubai in March. After losing in the first round of the French Open, she went out in the second round of Wimbledon.