Sunday, January 23 2005 18:31 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Mumbai: India's tennis sensation Sania Mirza, who became the first Indian women to reach a Grand Slam third round, today (Jan 23, 2005) said that she wanted to be an inspiration for lot of Indian youngsters and would also love to see them come up like her. "There are lot of talented youngsters coming up in our country and I would like to inspire them to do well on international scene", Sania told reporters at the Chattrapati Shivaji International Terminals in Mumbai today.

Thanking her family members and her coaches and the general public for their support, she said, "I was very nervous in the first set and was not at all hitting the ball well in the third round match against Serena Williams which I lost 1-6 4-6".

"However, in the second set I realised I could match Serena when I won the first game and started gaining in confidence. It was a fine feeling for me to hear Serena say a few good words after the match", she added.

"Before the on-going Australian Open, my goal was to break into the top 100 in the world but this performance has now given me confidence and my aim would be to break into the top 50 before the end of the year," the Hyderbadi lass said.

When asked how she reacted to Serena Williams' comment that she had not heard of Sania Mirza, the talented player said, "I did not expect her to know me and I did not think much about her comments as my mind was on the match all the time".

"However, I wanted to play well against her and give a proper reply by displaying my talent on the court and I think I performed quite well against her", she added.

When asked as to what her future plans were, Sania said, "I would like to rest for a while and then decide about the tournaments I would be playing. But for now I would just like to spend some time with my family".