Sania Mirza beat Colombian Catalina Castano 7-6, 6-0 in Round I

Bangkok: Sania Mirza showed no sign of rustiness as she marked her return to competitive tennis with a straight-set victory over Catalina Castano of Colombia in the WTA Pattaya Open on Monday.

Fifth seed Sania, who had taken a break after her early loss in the Australian Open, won 7-6 (7-1), 6-0 to advance to the second round of the $170,000 hardcourt tournament.

Meanwhile, Justine Henin-Hardenne will make a much-awaited return when she joins a very competitive field in this week’s Paris Open.

The Belgian, who lost her world No. 1 spot to Maria Sharapova after skipping the Australian Open for personal reasons, will have to deal with a host of top Russians as well as holder Amelie Mauresmo of France.

Henin-Hardenne announced last month that she would not take part in the first Grand Slam of the year following her split from husband Pierre-Yves. Henin, who has a bye for the first round, faces a possible second-round clash with Greek Eleni Daniilidou.

The field for the Open includes Russians Nadia Petrova, Svetlana Kuznetsova and Dinara Safina, a winner here in 2005. Mauresmo, who has also been granted a first-round bye, will be eager to get back to winning ways following her disappointing third-round defeat at the Australian Open.

“She is going to play very well, I am very confident about her technical skills,” said the Frenchwoman’s former coach Jean-Claude Perrin.