Melbourne: Sania Mirza crashed out of singles event of the Australian Open after suffering a straight-set defeat in the first round at the hands 26th seed Aravane Rezai of France.
The unseeded Indian lost her opening round 4-6, 2-6 in one hour and nine minutes to world number 27 opponent at Melbourne Park.
The first set could have gone either way with both the players getting an equal number of opportunities to break.
However, Sania missed all the four breakpoints while the French rode on one break to shoot into lead.
In the second set too, Sania got four chances to break her rival but could convert just one while she dropped her serve thrice.
Now Sania would look to do well in the women's doubles event where she has been seeded 10th along with her Spanish partner Virginia Ruano Pascual.
Their first round opponents are Yayuk Basuki of Indonesia and Kimiko Date Krumm of Japan.
PTI
First Published: Tuesday, January 19, 2010, 10:34