Sania's back: qualifies for US Open

Sania Mirza sealed a berth in the women's singles main draw of the US Open with a hard earned win over Columbia's Catalina Castano in the qualifying event.

The unseeded Indian overcame a second set lapse to beat her rival 6-1, 1-6, 6-3 in the third and final round in one hour and 48 minutes.

In the final set, Sania saved four breakpoints and broke Catalina twice to book herself a spot in the main draw.

It was for the first time since her breakthrough year in 2005 at Australian Open that Sania had to go through qualifiers to compete in a Grand Slam.

Sania's best Slam performance came at US Open in 2005 when she made the pre-quarterfinals.

A recurrent wrist injury and loss of form dented Sania's ranking heavily as she is now languishing at 160.

Somdev Devvarman will represent India's challenge in the men's singles after earning a direct entry into the last Grand Slam of the season.