Sania Mirza [Images] staged a strong comeback to beat ninth seed Shahar Peer of Israel and advance to the fourth round of the Pacific Life Open in Indian Wells on Sunday.

The Indian ace won 6-7, 7-5, 6-3 and will next face defending champion Daniela Hantuchova [Images] of Slovakia in the Tier-I event.

Sania, seeded 21st, lost the first set via the tie-breaker, but managed to come back strong in a tightly-fought second set winning it 7-5. However, the world number 32 had an easy time in the decider as she clinched it 6-3 to seal the contest.

It was Sania's fourth victory in as many matches over Peer, her former doubles partner.

"I was a bit irritated with myself, because I was fighting, fighting, the whole time, coming back all the time, levelling up and then not going up or finishing it," Sania said after the match.

Sania has also made it to the quarter-finals of the doubles event in this tournament. The 21-year-old partnering American Bethanie Mattek [Images] beat Tatiana Poutchek of Belarus and Russian Anastasia Rodionova 6-2, 4-6, 10-7 to advance to the last eight.

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