MUMBAI, Feb 13: Indian tennis fans are still celebrating after teenager Sania Mirza became the nation's first female winner of a WTA Tour singles event on Saturday.

The unseeded 18-year-old, ranked 134th in the world, won the Hyderabad Open in front of a delirious home crowd when she defeated ninth seed Alyona Bondarenko of Ukraine 6-4 5-7 6-3.

"Simply Superb, Sania", said a headline in the Hindustan Times daily on Sunday, while The Times of India splashed a big picture of Mirza with the heading: "Mirzaah! She's Magic".

Fans danced on the streets in the southern Indian city of Hyderabad on Saturday night in a country where such sporting reactions are normally reserved only for cricket.

"You've turned us from cricket to tennis," said one banner. Mirza's victory is being hailed as a giant leap forward for women's tennis in India. "Unlike the men, women's tennis in India lacks history and Sania has revolutionised it," said the country's finest tennis player Ramanathan Krishnan, who reached the Wimbledon semi-finals in 1960 and 1961.

"It's too early to say what she is likely to achieve. Of course, it would be great to see her reach the pinnacle of women's tennis." The win will take Mirza close to her immediate target of breaking into the top 100. Last year, she became the youngest Indian, male or female, to win a professional title by claiming the doubles at the same event.

"It's simply unbelievable that she's done what she has so quickly," said former national champion Sai Jayalakshmy. "She loves the spotlight, and she's extremely confident. Her self-belief is perhaps the biggest difference between her and the women players of my generation." -Reuters