STANFORD, California, 28 July 2005 — India’s Sania Mirza made the most of her lucky loser status with an upset victory over the big-serving Eleni Daniilidou of Greece 7-6, 2-6, 6-3 to move into the second round of the Stanford Classic on Tuesday.

In another surprise result, Russian fifth seed Vera Zvonareva continued her run of poor form with a lackluster 6-3, 1-6, 7-6 defeat at the hands of American qualifier Meghann Shaughnessy.

Mirza was beaten in the final round of qualifying but slipped into the draw when Chanda Rubin pulled out with an injury.

The 18-year-old prospect adopted an aggressive approach and was rewarded with a well-earned victory over Daniilidou, who upset French Open champion Justine Henin-Hardenne at Wimbledon last month.

Daniilidou owns one of the tour’s biggest serves but Mirza had few problems picking it up.

“She’s a very good player, but I broke her quite a few times,” Mirza said.

“She has big serve, but you have to know how to handle it. I read it very well.” Mirza now faces the daunting prospect of a second-round encounter against Wimbledon champion Venus Williams, but the confident Indian remains positive ahead of the clash.

“I played Serena at the Australian Open and was a little bit nervous there, but I’m looking at playing Venus as an opportunity,” Mirza said.

“She’s one of the best players in the world but no one is unbeatable.” With her win over Zvonareva, Shaughnessy set up a second round clash with world number 26 Daniela Hantuchova of Slovakia, who thrashed American wild card Alexandra Stevenson 6-2, 6-1.

Stevenson’s career has stumbled since she reached the 1999 Wimbledon semifinals and she only returned to the tour last week after a 10-month layoff following to right arm surgery.

“I felt in control of the match, I was really consistent,” Hantuchova said.

“It’s also nice to see her (Stevenson) back. It’s hard to be off so long and it will take her time to get used to it again.” Currently ranked No. 945, Stevenson is confident she can eventually regain her form.

“You have to be optimistic or you’d never be able to go through the rehabilitation I had to go through,” she said.

“I’m at 85 percent now, but my arm is getting stronger every day.” In other matches, seventh seed Jelena Jankovic took down Marissa Irvin 6-2, 6-4, while eighth seed Francesca Schiavone beat Alina Jidkova 6-4, 6-1.

Anna-Lena Groenefeld overcame qualifier Shahar Peer 7-5, 6-1 and Iveta Benesova outlasted Shuai Peng 6-4, 7-6.

Top seed and defending champion Lindsay Davenport will open her campaign today, as will two-time winner Kim Clijsters of Belgium.

Agassi Returns With Easy

Victory Over Lisnard

Top-seeded Andre Agassi needed just 47 minutes despatch with unseeded Jean-Rene Lisnard of France 6-, 6-0 in the second round of the Mercedes-Benz Cup in Los Angeles on Tuesday.

The 35-year-old American displayed little sign of rust in his first match since being sidelined with a back injury picked up at the French Open in May, covering the court well and running his opponent down quickly.

Lisnard lost in qualifying but picked up a berth in the main draw due to withdrawals to face Agassi, a three-time winner of this event.

Defending champion and No. 4 seed Tommy Haas of Germany, also coming back from an injury, followed Agassi into the next round.

Haas, who has not played since tearing an ankle ligament while warming up at Wimbledon in June, beat Ivo Karlovic of Croatia 6-4, 6-4.

Third-seeded Nicolas Kiefer of Germany had to retire from his match against American James Blake due to breathing problems. Last year’s losing finalist was trailing 3-2 in the opening set when he pulled out.

Fifth-seeded Taylor Dent and fellow American Mardy Fish both withdrew before their scheduled night match. Dent is still suffering from a heat-related illness that forced him to retire from the RCA Championship final in Indianapolis on Sunday, while Fish cited a wrist injury for his withdrawal.

In other matches, second seed Dominik Hrbaty had few problems dealing with fellow Slovak Karol Beck, winning 6-4, 6-1.

No. 9 seed Vincent Spadea of the United States was upset by compatriot Zack Fleishman 4-6, 6-2, 6-4.