Monday, January 17 2005 14:59 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

New Delhi: Sania Mirza rewrote Indian tennis history as she registered her first grand slam win and stormed into the second round of the women's singles at the Australian Open in Melbourne today (Jan 17,2005).

Sania overcame a first set loss to down Australia's Cindy Watson 3-6 6-3 6-0 in the first round to become only the second Indian woman to win a grand slam match.

Nirupama Sanjeev was the first to accomplish the feat in 1998 and she too scored her only grand slam win at the Australian Open.

It was not exactly flawless tennis from the 18-year old Hyderabad girl who entered the main draw as a wild card, which she earned after reaching the women's singles final of the Asian Tennis Championships last year.

Sania hit only 32 winners and had 43 unforced errors including three double faults. She was broken in her very first serve of the match and dropped serves three more times.

But the teenager put it down to nervousness on the big stage and said there was no worries about her form as such.

"I was quite tight in the first set and was also down a break in the second set ... But I was hitting the net and not long or wide," Sania said.

"Then I concentrated on making her play, and it worked," said the former Wimbledon girls' doubles champion.

From the moment she was down 2-3 in the second set, Sania began to tighten her game. She kept the ball in play, and to her luck, Watson began to make mistakes.