Sania Mirza after her win on Tuesday. (AP)

Melbourne: Sania Mirza shrugged off recent controversies and minor niggles to sail past Uzbekistan’s Iroda Tulyaganova in straight sets to advance to the second round of the Australian Open on Tuesday.

The Indian, seeded 31, beat Tulyaganova 6-4, 6-2 in little over an hour to set up a clash with Swiss qualifier Timea Bacsinszky, who beat Australian Sophie Ferguson 6-4, 6-3. “It’s not easy to deal with things like that off the court, there are some misunderstandings happening,” Sania, who was recently embroiled in a controversy related to insulting the Indian flag during the Hopman Cup, said after the match.

The 21-year-old, who was also battling minor injuries like an abdominal strain that cut short her season last year, was rusty to start with and wasted a couple of break points besides committing 11 unforced errors in the opener.

But Tulyaganova’s patchy form worked to Sania’s advantage and the Indian wrested the first set after a 40-minute see-saw battle. Sania then showed some fine form in the second set. The Indian cut down on her unforced errors and broke Tulyaganova twice. She also did well to hold her serve and did not give away a single break point, outplaying Tulyaganova in just 29 minutes to advance to the second round of the season’s first Grand Slam tournament.

If she gets past the second-round, Sania, who is placed in the third quarter of the draw, will have to brace up for a possible showdown with eighth seed American Venus Williams.