Sania Mirza’s initial statement of intent: The Hyderabad Open title | Tennis News – Times of India

When Sania started her professional career, the Hyderabadi had set her heart on being the top singles player. From 2003 till she retired from singles in 2012, Sania was ranked as the country’s No. 1 player in singles by the WTA.
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.

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 making it to the final and cruised quite comfortably.

The Sania-Alona Bpndarenko final turned out to be a thrilling affair with the fans enjoying each moment of the game. Sania took the first set 6-4 but Alona hit back by claiming the second at 7-5. In the decider, Sania unleashed her trademark forehands to catch her rival off hand and cruised to a 6-3 win.
It was the first singles title to be won by an Indian and till date no one else has replicated it.