California: Indian tennis ace Sania Mirza continued her winning spree by defeating Israel's Shahar Peer in the third round of the Pacific Life Open Tournament at Indian Wells, California. With the win over Peer, Sania has moved to the  of the USD 2.1 million Pacific Life Open Tournament.

After losing the first set in the tie-break, the Indian sensation who is ranked 32nd in the world beat Peer 6-7 (7), 7-5, 6-3 in the three round match, last night.

“We always play tough matches, but it’s about finding a way to win,” Sania said.

Sania will now meet Slovakian Daniela Hantuchova in the pre-quarters finals of the tournament. Hantuchova is the defending champion of this tier one tournament. Hantuchova, the fifth seed, defeated China’s Zheng Jie 6-4, 6-2.

In the second round of the men's doubles of the same event, Leander Paes and his Australian partner Paul Hanley defeated David Nalbandian and Guillermo Canas to reach the quarterfinals. The Indo-Australian duo has been ranked eight in the event, registered a win over the Argentine duo 7-5, 2-6, 10-5.

Another Indian player Mahesh Bhupathi and his Bahamas counterpart Mark Knowles won their opening match and have entered the second round of the event in an encounter against German Christopher Kas and Dutchman Rogier Wassen .The sixth seeded duo of Bhupati and Knowles defeated German Christopher Kas and Dutchman Rogier Wassen 6-3, 7-6(3).