Sania Mirza of India signs autographs after her match against Marion Bartoli of France at the 2005 U.S.Tennis Championships in Flushing Meadows, New York, on Sept. 2. Mirza created history by entering the fourth round of the tournament with a 7-6 (7/4), 6-4 victory over Bartoli. (Photo: Mohammad Jaffer/SnapsIndia)

New York : India's Sania Mirza continued her dream run –– and created history –– at the U.S.tennis championships here on Sept. 2, entering the fourth round with a 7-6 (7-4), 6-4 victory over Marion Bartoli of France.

The 42nd ranked Mirza, who is the first Indian woman to enter the fourth round of not only the U.S.but any Grand Slam event, will meet the winner of the third round encounter between top seed Maria Sharapova of Russia and Julia Schruff of Germany on Sept. 4.

Amidst cheers of "Go Sania Go," Mirza raked up a win with her gutsy stroke play against the 43rd ranked Bartoli. At one point in the first set, it was touch and go, but Mirza kept her cool and calculatedly placed her shots to come through in the tie-breaker.

Whether she wins or not, her performances here have won innumerable hearts and minds in the three matches she has played.

Her dream run began on Aug. 29 when she defeated Mashona Washington of the U.S. 7-6, 6-7, 6-4 in the first round. She then defeated Maria Elena Camerin of Italy 6-4, 1-6, 6-4 and now Bartoli.

Mirza's ground strokes proved too tough to handle for the 19-year-old Bartoli, whose defensive tactics backfired.

A jubilant Mirza after winning her match against Bartoli at the 2005 U.S.Tennis Championships in Flushing Meadows, New York, on Sept. 2. (Photo: Mohammad Jaffer/SnapsIndia)

Mirza, who hit the headlines in January when she reached the third round of the Australianbefore losing to eventual champion Serena Williams, dominated the match throughout. There too, she was the first Indian woman to reach round three of a Grand Slam event –– the previous best was by Nirupama Vaidyanathan, who had reached the 2nd round of the Australian

There were too many unforced errors from Mirza, 49 to 14 against her name. But then she boldly went for the lines and had 45 winners to four for the match. Less bothered by the abdominal stress and the foot blisters that had hampered her in the earlier rounds, Mirza showed great footwork to come up with winners from both the flanks.

Bartoli stole a 2-0 lead with a break in the second game but Mirza brokeback in the third and fifth games to go up 3-2. After the French attacked her serve for a break in the ninth game, Mirza responded with a series of winners including a superb cross court backhand pass that set up a break point in the next game. She missed out on it with a wide forehand but two service return winners made up for that. Bartoli then put a forehand wide to drop serve. As her opponent took a medical time out to treat a calf muscle strain, Mirza seemed to suffer from a loss of concentration as she committed three unforced errors to drop serve again.

Into the tie-breaker, however, the 2003 Wimbledon junior doubles champ,d with a forehand winner and followed it up successive service returns and a couple of cross court backhands to go up 6-1. She converted the second of five set points when Bartoli hit a backhand long.

Having reached the second round at Wimbledon in June and having contested the final at Forest Hills on Aug. 27, Mirza arrived at Flushing Meadows as the world number 42. With the billion plus population of India following her every move, Mirza, arguably the most popular player in the tournament, is expected to cross the barrier of the 30th ranking soon.