Dubai: Sania Mirza and her new partner Maria Vento-Kabchi of Venezuela stormed into the doubles second round of the Dubai Open here on Thursday.

The Indo-Venezuelan duo got the better of Russian pair of Maria Kirilenko and Anastasia Myskina in straight sets 6-3, 6-4. They will next play Kveta Peschke of Czech Republic and Francesca Schiavone of Italy for a semi-final berth.

Sania, who played with a heavily strapped elbow, maintained her composure and was well-aided by Maria against the nimble footed Russian girls for a comfortable looking score.

The 36th ranked Indian, however, has indicated that her right elbow, which was troubling her since Bangalore Open, where she won the doubled title last week, may keep her away from participating in the next week’s Qatar Total Open in Doha.

Rain severely disrupted the singles quarter finals, leaving a host of leading seeds potentially facing two matches on Friday. Top seed Amelie Mauresmo, winner of five of her last six tournaments, finally got on court against Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova after a five-hour delay and broke to lead 3-2 in the first set tie-break.

Rain returned after less than an hour’s tennis, forcing organisers to abandon play for the day at 9 pm local time.

Australian Open champion Mauresmo can become world No. 1 if she wins the tournament.

Friday’s programme promises to be a treat for the fans, with three other quarter finals still to start.

Former world No. 1 Martina Hingis of Switzerland will play Maria Sharapova, with the Russian hoping to avenge her 3-6, 1-6 defeat in Tokyo earlier this month.

American Lindsay Davenport will tackle another Russian, Maria Kirilenko, while Belgian Justine Henin-Hardenne faces Francesca Schiavone. (Agencies)