Sania in Cincinnati Open quarters

Sania Mirza beat Kristiana Brandi of Puerto Rico in the second round of the USD 170,000 WTA Western and Southern Financial Group Women's Open tennis in Cincinnati on Thursday.

She now joins No.1 seed Patty Schnyder and No.4 seed Daniela Hantuchova in the final eight.

In the doubles event, Sania and Ukrainian Yuliana Fedak ousted qualifiers Sybille Bammer of Austria and Jewel Peterson of the US 5-7, 6-2, 6-0 in the first round.

They next face local pair Angela Haynes and Bethanie Mattek who stunned the fourth seeds, Israeli teenager Shahar Peer and Russian Alina Jidkova.