Sania Mirza

New Delhi: India’s Sania Mirza and Sunitha Rao have been given a wild card for women’s doubles competition of the Olympics to be held in Beijing from August 8-24.

While Sania is India’s No. 1, US-based Sunitha is second-highest ranked Indian in the WTA charts and has represented the country in the Fed Cup.

A senior official at the All India Tennis Association (AITA) said they have received the official confirmation from the International Tennis Federation (ITF). “We got a letter from the ITF yesterday (Wednesday), saying Sania and Sunitha, who were AITA nominations, have been approved a wild-card entry to the women’s doubles competition,” the official said.

Sania has already been given direct entry into the singles competition.

Meanwhile, Sunitha shrugged off a poor start to beat Kristina Kuvoca of Slovakia in a tough three-setter to advance to the singles second round of the ITF women’s event in Boston.

The US based Indian, seeded fifth, rallied to beat her Slovakian opponent 1-6, 6-4, 7-6 (7-4) in the first round. (PTI)