 | http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/tennis/4187069.stm
BBC News
Wednesday, 19 January, 2005, 10:39 GMT
Indian woman makes tennis history
Mirza meets Serena Williams in the next round
Teenager Sania Mirza has become the first Indian woman to reach the
third round of a Grand Slam tennis event.
The 18-year-old Mirza, who got a wild card entry into the Australian
Open in Melbourne, beat Hungarian Petra Mandula 6-2, 6-1 in the second
round.
Mirza, who is ranked 166, will now play women's favourite Serena
Williams in the next round on Friday.
The only other Indian woman to win a match at a Grand Slam is Nirupama
Vaidyanathan.
Vaidyanathan made it to the second round of the Australian Open in
1998.
Seven years later, Mirza needed just 50 minutes to beat Mandula, a
former French Open quarterfinalist, to sail into the third round.
Sania Mirza on her upcoming match with Serena Williams
"I'm really excited. I was confident but I didn't think it was going to
be that easy," Mirza said after her second round win.
"My aim was to win a round here. When I did that I was so relieved,
there was no pressure."
'Too small'
Now Mirza, who is a former Wimbledon junior doubles champion, is keenly
awaiting her contest with Serena Williams.
"I'm really looking forward to finding out how hard she hits the ball,"
said Mirza.
Williams admits that she has never heard of her young rival in the next
round.
"I am pretty sure she's heard of me though and she'll be ready to play
my game," she said of Mirza.
Mirza, who lives in the southern Indian city of Hyderabad known for
producing a host of top Indian cricketers, turned professional two
years ago.
She says she was considered too small when she went for her first
tennis classes as a six-year-old girl.
"Then finally [the coach] called my parents up and said 'the way she
hits the ball, I've never seen a six-year-old hit a ball like that',"
Mirza told the Associated Press.
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