Serena Williams, right, of the United States with Sania Mirza of India at the end of their women’s singles third round match at the Australiantournament in Melbourne on Jan. 21. Williams won 6-1, 6-4. (Photo: AFP)

Melbourne : India’s emerging sports heartthrob Sania Mirza may have lost in the Australianto one of the best exponents of tennis, but she has won legion of fans with her dashing game. And she made history, becoming the first Indian woman to enter the third round of a Grand Slam event.

The Australianorganizers usually do not expect anything sensational in a preliminary round women’s match, but the atmosphere in Mirza’s match against seventh seed Serena Williams was described as electric.

The third round game had everything the organizers could ask for –– full house, competitive tennis and tremendous atmosphere.

FIRST INTERNATIONAL ‘BALL KID:’ Akshat Joshi of India became the first international ‘ball kid’ at the Australiantournament in Melbourne on Jan. 17. Thirteen-year-old Joshi, who belongs to Chandigarh, Punjab, is one of 32 youngsters who were selected from thousands of applicants across Asia and flown to Melbourne to be part of the tournament in an initiative to mark the Australians growing relationship with Asia/Pacific. (Photo: AFP)

Sania, a wildcard entry in this Grand Slam tournament, clearly looked overawed in the presence of Williams in the first set which she lost

1-6 to the American, who is trying to put the memories of a bleak 2004 behind her.

Thanks to vocal support from flag-waving Indian fans and her own inner resolve, Mirza gave a tough fight to Williams extending the second set to a close 6-4.

Mirza, who turned 18 less than two months ago and rose meteorically from lower than 450 to the Top 150 in less than six months, showed plenty of spirit as she saved two match points on her serve but Williams completed the victory with an ace to set up a meeting with 11th seed Nadia Petrova of Russia, who beat Bulgaria’s Magdalena Maleeva 6-4 6-4.

Earlier, Mirza beat Petra Mandula of Hungary 6-2 6-1 in the third round. “I’m really excited,” she said. “I was confident (against Mandula) but I didn’t think it was going to be that easy.”

The Indian community has been rallying behind this great brown hope ever since her wild card entry in the seasonng grand slam tourney was announced. It would not be a gross exaggeration to say that in the past one week Mirza has become the most well-known Indian personality walking the southern hemisphere.

The one-day-cricket-like enthusiasm was on full display in the Melbournegame at Flinders Park on Jan. 21 as Team Mirza thronged the arena with tricolors, placards and painted faces. The number of spectators in the game was clearly higher than the one that featured current Russian heartthrob Maria Sharapova.

The teenagers among the South Asian community have adopted her as their pin-up girl. The fact that the education institutions in Australia are closed for summer break added to the building of hype around Mirza’s campaign.