Sania Mirza in action against Mariya Koryttseva on Thursday

Indian Wells: Wild card Sania Mirza came back from the brink to beat Ukrainian Mariya Koryttseva in a gruelling three-setter and enter the second round of the $4.5 million BNP Paribas Open here.

Sania trailed 2-6, 1-3 before bouncing back to win the match 2-6, 6-3, 6-2 and set up a tough clash against 12th seed Italian Flavia Pennetta, who got a first-round bye.

In a contest that ended just three seconds short of two hours, Sania was completely outplayed in the opening set which she lost 2-6 after Koryttseva had broken her thrice.

The Indian seemed headed for a straight-sets defeat as she trailed 1-3 after being broken once in the second set.

But Sania soon got her act together to save four breakpoints and break back twice to equalise.

The Hyderabad player dominated the decider and broke an error-prone Koryttseva twice to settle the marathon battle in her favour.

In doubles, Sania has teamed up with Chinese Taipei’s Chia-Jung Chuang and the duo will open its campaign against the Argentine-Israeli team of Gisela Dulko and Shahar Peer.

Meanwhile, two-time tournament champion Lleyton Hewitt continued his comeback from hip surgery by beating Jan Hernych 7-6(7-3), 6-3 on Thursday in the first round of the men’s draw at the BNP Paribas Open.

In the biggest tournament since the Australian Open, other winners Thursday included Jarkko Nieminen and Ivan Ljubicic while Feliciano Lopez and Jose Acasuso were among the first-round casualties.

Hewitt, once the top-ranked player in the world, was among the first-round attractions in an event in which all seeded players receive byes through to the second round.

The Australian won this event in 2002 and 2003 and lost to Roger Federer in the 2005 final. This year, however, the 28-year-old is ranked No. 77 and still trying to regain full fitness after surgery on his left hip last August.

Hewitt will next meet 17th-seeded Fernando Gonzalez, with the Chilean having won their clash in the opening round of the Australian Open in January.

Finland’s Nieminen beat France’s Nicolas Devilder 7-6(8-6), 6-1 to set up a second-round meeting with 13th seeded James Blake. Ljubicic downed Japan’s Kei Nishikori 6-3, 6-3 and his next opponent will be Croatian compatriot Mario Ancic.

Spain’s Lopez was beaten 6-4, 6-3 by Michael Llodra, with the Frenchman progressing to an encounter with compatriot Richard Gasquet. Argentina’s Acasuso, switching from campaigning on clay, was defeated 6-2, 4-6, 6-3 by Russian Teimuraz Gabashvili.

Gabashvili will next take on Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.

In the women’s draw, the highlight of the opening day was Romania’s Edina Gallovits fighting back to edge past Russian Maria Kirilenko 3-6, 7-5, 7-5, while Australian Samantha Stosur cruised past Italy’s Francesca Schiavone 6-1, 6-4.

Second-seed Jelena Jankovic had a bye, and learned her second-round opponent will be Russian Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, who beat Poland’s Marta Domachowska 6-1, 6-3.

Third-seeded Elena Dementieva will face Petra Cetkovska in the second round, with the Czech progressing thanks to a 6-2, 7-5 win over France’s Stephanie Foretz.

Maria Sharapova made her first competitive appearance for seven months on Thursday, losing a doubles match on Thursday.

The former world No. 1 teamed up with Russian compatriot Elena Vesnina and they were beaten 6-2, 4-6, 10-7 by Ekaterina Makarova and Tatiana Poutchek.

Sharapova was forced off the WTA Tour last August by a torn rotator cuff and underwent surgery on her right shoulder two months later.

“It feels very good to be back,” the 24-year-old said. “I just wanted to test (the shoulder) out. I started training a couple of months ago. I just wanted to get a little different scenery than the practice court and play in front of the crowd, so that was exciting.”