Sania Mirza's initial statement of intent: The Hyderabad Open title

Though her journey to stardom began with a girls’ doubles title at Wimbledon in 2003 her breakthrough as a singles player came two years later at home. In fact, Sania not only won her only WTA singles in the city of the Nawabs but also clinched her maiden doubles.

Read AlsoSania Mirza: The original torchbearer

The arrival of new talent is usually greeted with much mirth and cynicism in Indian circles but there was little of that in Sania's case. Instead, the sporting circles were excited about a talented girl who would go on to leave an indelible mark on tennis courts the world over.

Riding on the exploits at the Australian Open, Sania, who was given a wild card for the 2005 AP Tourism WTA Hyderabad Open, showed her class as she made it count in the third and last WTA event to be held in the city.

Egged on by a vociferous home crowd, Sania dished out some superlative performances during the week to win the singles title. It was not an easy tournament, and the matches were quite tough, but Sania was in her element that week.

Several times she stared down the barrel, but somehow, she was able to muster that little extra which helped her change the tide and surf through the opposition. She had an easy outing against Romanian Delia Sescioreanu but then ran into fourth seed Chinese Zheng Jie. It was a tough three-setter but Sania came through at 6-1, 2-6, 6-3 to reach the quarterfinals.

Against Israeli Tzipora Obziler, the 18-year-old got a lesson or two in tennis. Obziler took the first set, but Sania roared back to win the match and sail into the semis.In the last four, Sania was up against eighth seed Russian Maria Kirilenko, who had eliminated top-seeded Chinese Li Na. Sania was in no mood to let go of the opportunity of