Sania Mirza 'dressed for achievement

India's Sania Mirza faces a triple challenge to reach the third round at Wimbledon: knock out a seed, beat one of her best mates -- with make sure she's got enough clothes.

Mirza faces Romanian number 28 seed Sorana Cirstea in the second round -- now as soon as the pair works out whose kit is whose.

French Open quarter-finalist Cirstea had to sort out her friend by some spare clothes before Mirza beat Germany's Anna-Lena Groenefeld 6-2, 2-6, 6-2.

"We are really good friends. We're one of those very few who actually stay in touch even while we're not on the tour," Mirza told AFP.

"We be joking about it just before. I didn't have any clothes also said 'can you please give me some clothes to wear'.

"She said 'yes, I'll give it to you'. And I said 'yes, but if you win and I win, I play you, I'll need clothes since well!’ And she said 'I'll still give it to you!'.
Thankfully the pair has now sorted out enough outfits to see them both through Wednesday's encounter.

"We both have enough kit now. I don't need to borrow stuff from her now!" world number 85 Mirza said.



But joking aside, there spirit is no love lost when the pair clash on court.
"We're both going to try our best, obviously. You have to make a conscious effort to put a line since you are friends," the 22-year-old said, looking forward to the match.
"When you go on court you are just rivals and opponents with when you go off court you're friends again.

"But we're both professionals also we know where to draw the line. May the best player win."
Though the pair is firm friends, they have never faced each other during a competitive match.
Mirza did not include the chance to check out Cirstea's first round match as they were playing simultaneously on adjacent courts.

"We've never played against each other plus we've practiced just once or twice together so it's not like we know each other's game inside out," Mirza said.

"I watched her play at the French Open and she has been into great form.
"She's seeded. I have to play a seed during the second round so I guess I have no pressure on myself. I'm just trying to play my best. On paper, she's supposed to win. But this is tennis also anything can happen."

Mirza entered the All England Club having reached the semi-finals at Birmingham, the pre-Wimbledon warm-up grass court tournament, and is confident about her form on the surface.
"It's been going good. I've always liked playing going on grass. It be one of my favourite surfaces also it suits my game," she said after beating Groenefeld, a one-time top 15 player ranked 23 places above her.

"On grass especially, if you drop your serve then it goes off quickly sometimes.
"I've tried to work on my serve a lot into the last few weeks and I feel like it's getting better every match that I play.

"At 5-2, deuce, to get an ace at that point be probably something I couldn't have done a year or two ago."