By the time Nirupama could read Mauresmo's game, she lost the first set 1-6. But she came back strongly in the second set to run up a 5-3 lead.

But she could not close it out even as Mauresmo reeled off the next four games in a row to avoid third set worries.

This is only the fourth time that Nirupama has made it to the main draw of a WTA tournament -- Japan and Jakarta last year and Australian Open and Bol this year.

Playing immediately after her singles match, Nirupama and Maria Fernanda Landa of Argentina were bounced by Marosi and Plischke in the doubles first round.

Next in line for Nirupama is the $50,000 Challenger in Cardiff, and then the $75,000 Challenger in Portugal, followed by French Open qualifying rounds.

Nirupama made it into the French Open qualifiers as the last direct entry since theorganisers used the rankings from a couple of weeks back, when she was ranked higher at No 174.

With the nine points she earned last week at Portugal and eight points from Bol, Nirupama is expected to move up by 15-20 spots in next week's ranking.