The Good News: Sania Mirza is the first Indian woman to be seeded at a Grand Slam; the world No.28 is seeded 26 for next week's US Open.

The Bad News: Sania Mirza is unlikely to progress beyond the third round at the Grand Slam where she surprisingly reached the fourth round two years ago.

Of course, miracles do happen and Mirza may steamroll past Russian star Anna Chakvetadze in the third round. Unfortunately, sixth-seeded Chakvetadze is currently the hottest player on the tour, apart from compatriot Maria Sharapova, and has beaten Mirza three times in 2007.

'If Mirza safely negotiates her first two hurdles, she will most probably run into Chakvetadze. Which should ideally be the end of the singles competition for the Indian'

Two of those victories came at the Cincinnati and Stanford legs of the American hard-court season last month, with the Hyderabad lass just about managing to take a set off her Russian nemesis.

But is Mirza guaranteed to make it to the third round? Well, on current form she should easily sweep aside her first-round opponent Kaia Kanepi - the world No.44 from Estonia. The two have never met before.

The second round should be slightly tougher. American Laura Granville, who plays a qualifier in the first round, will have the advantage of a home crowd if she comes through to play Mirza in their first head-to-head meeting. Granville may be ranked 60 now but the experienced player was once ranked 28th in the world - which is incidentally also Mirza's highest career ranking.