India's tennis sensation rallied superbly to upset world number 34 Jelena Kostanic of Croatia in the first round of the USD 585,000 Dubai Open Tennis tournament in Dubai on Monday.

The 18-year-old, one of the three wild card entrants in the competition, came back after losing the first set to beat the Croatian 6-7, 6-4, 6-1 in just over two hours.

Sania, who created history by becoming the first Indian to win a WTA tour title at her hometown Hyderabad last month, will now face US Open champions and fourth seeded Svetlana Kuznetsova of Russia in the second round.