Sania Mirza teamed up with Shikha Uberoi to get the better of a Chinese pair

Martina Navratilova warms up in Hyderabad on Monday. (PTI)

Hyderabad: India?s teenage duo Sania Mirza and Shikha Uberoi advanced to the second round of the doubles event at the $140,000 WTA Tour Hyderabad Open tennis tournament on Monday.

Sania and Shikha defeated the Chinese pair of Chin-Wei Chan and Na Li 6-4, 7-5 at the Sports Authority of Andhra Pradesh (SAAP) tennis complex.

However, India?s campaign in the Open suffered an early setback as wild card entrant Ankita Bhambri was knocked out in the first round.

Ankita, ranked 430 in the world, lost 3-6, 2-6 to Ukraine?s Alyona Bondarenko, 107, in the tournament?s inaugural match. The Delhi girl struggled in the encounter before going down in a one-sided match.

The 20-year-old Ukranian, on the other hand, was in total control. She asserted her supremacy and overwhelmed the Indian, who had made her debut in the big league of the country?s tennis circuit by winning the $10,000 ITF title in Calcutta in December last year.

Bondarenko, who put in a lot of power behind her shots, broke Ankita in the fourth game to go 3-1 up and then went on to hold her serves to take the first set with ease.

In the second set, Ankita appeared to lose steam with Bondarenko tightening her grip.

The Ukranian raced to a 4-0 lead before Ankita sought to stage a recovery. But it was too late by then.

Ankita was originally scheduled to meet fifth seed Marta Domachowska of Poland in the first round. But Domachowska pulled out of the event last evening after aggravating a shoulder injury.

Wild card entrant Shahar Peer of Israel caused a major upset when she defeated third seed Tatiana Panova of Russia 6-3, 7-6 (7-2).

Meanwhile, Italy?s Roberta Vinci and Israel?s Zipora Obziler, both unseeded players, advanced to the second round after scoring easy victories.

Vinci defeated Emilia Salerni of Argentina 6-3, 6-1, while Obziler beat Lubomira Kurhajcova of Slovakia 6-2, 6-2.

However, Marie-Eve Pelletier of Canada struggled, coming from behind to put it across Russia?s Eketerina Bychkova 2-6, 7-5, 7-5.

Earlier, the third edition of the Hyderabad Open, a Tier IV event with a prize money of $140,000, was declared open by chief minister Y.S. Rajasekhar Reddy.