Saturday, February 12 2005 20:22 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Hyderabad: Sania Mirza oscillated between occasional brilliance and erratic shot selection but raised her game when it mattered most to create history and become the first Indian woman ever to win a WTA tour title in the $ 140,000 Hyderabad Open tennis in Hyderabad today (Feb 12, 2005).

The unseeded 18-year-old, backed by a vociferous crowd, held her nerve in a scintillating final match to beat ninth seed Alyona Bondarenko of Ukraine 6-4 5-7 6-3 at the Sports Authority of Andhra Pradesh complex in Hyderabad.

It turned out to be a battle of nerves for both Sania and Bondarenko, both of whom were playing in their maiden WTA tour final, as they looked more than anxious to finish off the points and committed too many unforced errors in the bargain.

And Sania, two years younger to her 102-ranked opponent, handled the pressure better in the two-hour encounter to send her thousands of supporters into wild celebrations.

It was the third and final set which proved that the Hyderabadi lass has nerves of steel as she broke her opponent in the first, third and fifth games to race to a 5-1 lead and then managed to ward off tremendous pressure after dropping one match point and a service game to clinch the title.