Meghann Shaughnessy defeated an erratic Sania Mirza of India 6-4, 6-4 Tuesday to reach the second round of the Bangkok Open on a rainy day that forced several matches to be suspended.
Shaughnessy, seeded sixth and ranked 43rd, has two WTA Tour titles this year. The American's career best was in 2001 when she rose to 11th in the rankings.
``I still believe I can get back to that level,'' she said. ``I believe I have the ability.''
Mirza double-faulted seven times and made repeated unforced errors with her backhand. Rain briefly interrupted the match in the second set before Shaughnessy won in 81 minutes.
In other first-round matches, Germany's Julia Schruff beat Finland's Emma Laine 6-4, 7-6 (5), and Austria's Sybille Bammer defeated Australia's Nicole Pratt 6-1, 6-3.
Downpours that started in the late afternoon forced play to be suspended, with organizers waiting several hours to see if the rain would clear before evening.
Thailand's Tamarine Tanasugarn was leading Catalina Castano of Colombia 6-0, 6-6, and up 3-1 in the tiebreaker when play was interrupted. Melinda Czink was ahead 2-1 in the first set against Jamea Jackson when their match was suspended. Two other first-round matches were postponed.
Main draw matches were rained out Monday, with several first-round matches carried over to Tuesday.
© The Canadian Press, 2007
