Utilising the one-day break in her rain-interrupted opening round match to regroup herself, Sania Mirza posted a facile win over Spain’s Anabel Medina Gerrigues at the $600,000 Pilot Pen Tennis tournament at New Haven in the United States.

The 28th-ranked Indian star, trailing 0-1 in the first set on Monday when play was postponed due to rain, defeated the 33rd-ranked Medina 6-3, 6-3 at the Grandstand to advance to the second round on Tuesday.

Sania, who played with authority, said the delay seemed to help her. “I was actually not feeling very well yesterday (Monday), so maybe it was a blessing in disguise that the rain came down,” she said.

“I took a week off last week I felt I needed it. I feel fresh again and ready for the US Open,” she added.

Sania will next play eighth seed Alona Bondarenko of Ukraine, who defeated Belarussian Olga Govortsova in their first-round encounter, in the Tier II tournament being played in the build-up to the US Open, beginning on August 27.

On Monday, Sania had become the first Indian woman to be seeded at a Grand Slam.

The 20-year-old has been seeded 26th at the US Open. Sania, who reached a career-high WTA ranking of 28 last week, is likely to get a relatively easy first-round draw as a result of her seeding.

Sania will team up with Mara Santangelo of Italy to open her doubles campaign against the American duo of Corina Morariu and Meghann Shaughnessy.

Easy for Blake
In men’s action at the same tournament, third-seeded American James Blake eased into the third round as rain continued to disrupt the event.

On a chilly evening, the 25-year-old American overwhelmed unseeded Frenchman Arnaud Clement 6-4, 6-2 in a match featuring nine service beaks and multiple unforced errors.

The sixth-ranked American has now extended his winning streak to 7-0 against the Frenchman.

Blake awaits the winner of the match between Robby Ginepri and Agustin Calleri.

In the only other men’s match, American giant-killer John Isner continued his dazzling summer run with a straight set dismantling of Germany’s Benjamin Becker 6-3, 6-4.

Davenport delay
Lindsay Davenport's much-anticipated comeback, playing doubles alongside fellow-American Lisa Raymond, was postponed because of the rains.

The former world number one is making her return after almost a year off the tour, and just 10 weeks after giving birth to her first child.

She will make her singles comeback at Bali in Indonesia next month.