Sania Mirza [Images] faltered on her comeback and was knocked out of the DFS Classic in Birmingham, even as India's No 2 player Sunitha Rao rallied to enter the third round on Wednesday.

Sania, who was out of action due to a wrist injury for almost three months, lost 3-6, 0-6 to New Zealand's [Images] Marina Erakovic in the second round of the grass-court tournament.

The sixth seeded Indian ace, who received a bye in the first round, struggled with her serve, especially in the second set, in which she got only 44 per cent of her first serves in.

Meawhile, the US-based Rao beat wildcard Naomi Cavaday of Great Britain 4-6, 6-3, 6-1 after an hour and 50 minutes.

Rao, who had to qualify for the tournament, will next play the winner of the match between fifth seed Alona Bondarenko and Virginia Ruano Pascual.

The 20-year-old Erakovic, ranked 64, was coming off a title win at the US$ 50,000 Surbiton Challenger last week. She will play Russian qualifier Yaroslava Shvedova, who defeated Katie O'Brien 7-5, 1-6, 7-5 of Great Britain in the other second round match.

Sania will play her first round doubles partnering American Bethanie Mattek [Images]. They take on Natalie Grandin and Raquel Kops-Jones later in the day.