This is just start of journey in Tennis for Sania
Preetam Lahiri, Special Correspondent
January 21, 2005

This is just the start and not the end for Sania in International Tennis. In what she called was the "biggest match of her life," 18-year-old Sania had no answers to Serena William’s power play. The former world number one cruised to victory 6-1, 6-4. Mirza, the first Indian woman to reach the third round of a Grand Slam.

Sania Mirza arrived at the Australian Open last week with little fanfare and modest ambitions. On Friday, she left as a star in her homeland and with the praise of Serena Williams. Mirza, capitalizing on a wild-card entry, became the first Indian woman to make the third round of a Grand Slam tournament when she beat Hungarian Petra Mandula on Wednesday. That win earned her a shot at six-time Grand Slam winner Williams, who, as expected, won Friday's third-round matchup 6-1, 6-4. 

But Williams came away impressed by what she had seen from the 18-year-old Mirza, who lives in Hyderabad. "She has a very solid game, especially to be so young, she's only 18," Williams said of Mirza, ranked 166. "I definitely see a very bright future for her." As the pair shook hands at the net after the match, Williams spent some time talking to Mirza. "I told her to keep up the good work because it was good to see someone from India for the first time do so well ... I told her to keep fighting," said Williams. 

Mirza, who started playing tennis as a six-year-old after initially being unable to get any coaching because she was too small, overcame a nervous start to produce a stronger display in the second set.