Agencies
 
Cincinnati, Jul 19: The trademark forehands were back again as ninth-seeded Sania Mirza sailed into the second round of the women's singles of the Cincinnati Open, overcoming former Wimbledon semifinalist Alexandra Stevenson.

The Indian teen was leading 6-1, 2-0 when Stevenson retired due to a right shoulder strain.

Sania now plays Emma Laine of Finland in the second round after the latter beat Austrian Sybille Bammer 6-3, 6-1 in the first round.

Stevenson is recovering from a major shoulder surgery in 2004 and the world number 454 was clearly struggling against Sania. The Hyderabadi tennis ace showed signs of her vintage form in a rather lacklustre year against the American who, despite losing her final qualifying round match, made to the main draw as a lucky loser.

Sania dropped just one game in the first set and played her aggressive brand of tennis, which left Stevenson clueless. In the second set too, the Indian broke her rival and held her serve before Stevenson threw in the towel and retired with the injury.