Mirza shot to super stardom, primarily for being a first of holding many records set by an Indian when she enjoyed a breakthrough season in 2005, reaching the third round at the Australian Open on her Grand Slam debut, followed by a title on home soil in Hyderabad. Mirza picked up the WTA Newcomer of the year award as a result. Next year, Mirza lost in the fourth round of the US Open to eventual champion Maria Sharapova. However, inconsistent results and a series of injuries kept Mirza out of the top 50 in rankings for most part of her career. This year, Mirza held a considerable lead against Justine Henin at the Australian Open before bowing out in three gruelling sets.
Mirza's opponent, Serbian Bojana Jovanovski came into limelight this year when she reached the semifinals in Sydney before losing to eventual champion Na Li. Jovanovski also won both her singles rubbers against Canadians Rebecca Marino and Alexandra Wozniak at the Fed Cup playoffs.
Both players have met three times before with Jovanovski emerging victorious on two occasions. Jovanovski won the pair's last meeting in Cininnati last year. Although Mirza is bound to get solid crowd support due to a huge number of Indian residents living in the city, Jovanovski will record a win in three sets to ensure a place in the next round.
TennisEarth.com's Pick - Bojana Jovanovski in two closely contested sets.
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