Indian tennis ace Sania Mirza has stormed into the second round of the women's single event of $175,000 Oldum Brown Vancouver Open after defeating American qualifier Mallory Cecil in the first round on Wednesday.

The top seeded Sania ousted Cecil in straight sets by 6-4 7-5 to move to next round of the tournament. Sania fought hard in both sets against Cecil and second sent went to tie-breaker but Sania held her nerves to win the match.

Sania will now clash with the two-time former VanOpen runner-up, American Laura Granville in the second round.

Laura was declared winner of the match in first round when her opponent Aiko Nakamura decided to pull herself out in the final set after falling and straining her knee.

Meanwhile, Vancouver's Philip Bester stormed in to the third round after defeating fifth seeded Ryan Sweeting of the United States 1-6, 6-3, 6-4 in the second round.