Nieminen packs off Tomic in record time

Finland's Jarkko Nieminen claimed the fastest ever ATP Tour win on Thursday by crushing Australian Bernard Tomic 6-0, 6-1 in 28 minutes and 20 seconds to advance to the second round of the Sony Open.

World number 74 Tomic had not played since retiring injured against Rafael Nadal in the Australian Open first round in January and won just 13 points in the shortest match since the Tour began keeping official records in 1991.

Nieminen's win eclipsed the 1996 record set by Briton Greg Rusedski who defeated Carsten Arriens 6-0, 6-0 at the Sydney International in 29 minutes.

"I felt like I did the best that I could and I'm happy with the way I'm coming back," said 21-year-old Tomic, who had hip surgery after Melbourne Park.

In the women’s category, world number one Serena Williams overcame a wobbly start to  open the defence of her crown with a spirited 7-6 (9-7), 6-2 win over Kazakhstan's Yaroslava Shvedova on Thursday.

Sania-Cara advanceSania Mirza and Cara Black fought their way into the second round even as Leander Paes made his third first-round exit in five tournaments this year when he lost his opening round with partner Radek Stepanek.

Sania and Zimbabwe’s Cara, seeded fifth, faced stiff resistance from the unseeded Taipei pair of Hao-Ching Chan and Yung-Jan Chan before prevailing 6-3, 6-7 (8-10), 10-8 in the first round. They next face Georgia’s Oksana Kalashnikova and Russia’s Alisa Kleybanova.The fourth seeded Paes and his Czech partner Stepanek suffered an upset against American Eric Butorac and Raven Klaasen 3-6, 6-7 (7-9).