With Serena Williams pulling out of the Bangalore Open, it has been reduced to a one-star show with Indian sensation Sania Mirza taking centrestage in the garden city.

Top Indian players Sania and Shikha Uberoi have been drawn in the same half, in the ceremony that took place in Bangalore on Saturday.

Sania will face Slovakia's Martina Sucha in the first round. The 27-year-old Sucha, who turned pro in 1996, is ranked 98th and is yet to win a match this year.

The Indian ace, meanwhile, is on a high after reaching the last four at the Pattaya Open. Sania lost 6-4, 7-5 to Argentina's Gisela Dulko in the semi-finals on Saturday.

US-based Shikha Uberoi will take on world number 133 Yaroslava Shvedova of Russia while Indian wildcard Tara Iyer has been drawn against Slovak Sominika Cibulkova.

Top seed Mara Santangelo of Italy will play a qualifier in the opening round.

In the qualifiers, Sunitha Rao lost 7-6, 3-6, 6-4 to Kazakhstan's Amina Rakhim in the first round.

India's Arthi Venkataraman, Ankita Bhambri, Sandhya Nagaraj and Asha Nanda Kumar all proceeded to the second round qualifiers, which will take place on Sunday.