Sania withdraws from Eastbourne event

Sania Mirza conceded her first round singles match of the qualifying event of the USD 600,000 Aegon International in Eastbourne after suffering a hip-strain.

The Indian ace was trailing 4-6 2-3 against Alexandra Dulgheru of Romania on Sunday when she opted out of the contest.

Sania though will play in the doubles event along with Chia-Jung Chuang of Chinese Taipei.

The unseeded Indo-Taipei duo will take on fourth seeded Australian pair of Samantha Stosur and Rennae Stubbs.

Sania had made the singles and doubles semifinals of the Aegon Classic last week and probably continued tennis througout the week combined with long travel from Birmingham to Eastbourne took a toll on her.

In the men's event Leander Paes and his Czech partner Lukas Dlouhy have been given the top billing and they will open their campaign against Polish pair of Mariusz Fyrstenberg and Marcin Matkowski.

Mahesh Bhupathi and Mark Knowles, seeded second, will play their first round match against Stephen Huss of Australia and local Ross Hutchins.