Sania Mirza  entered the main draw of the US Open, beating Columbia’s Catalina Castano in the final qualifying round on Friday.

Sania, ranked 160th, got the better of the 188th-ranked Columbian 6-1, 1-6, 6-3 after an hour and 48 minutes.

Sania saved four beak-points and broke Castano twice to race to race away with the first set.

However, the Columbian fought her way back, cashing in on both the break chances that came her way to take the second set.

In the decider, Sania saved four break-points and broke Castano twice to seal a berth in the main draw.

This is the first time since 2005 that Sania had to play in the qualifying round to enter a Grand Slam main draw because of dip in the rankings.

Her best performance at the US Open was a fourth round appearance in 2005.

Somdev Devvarman and Sania Mirza posted first-round victories on opening day of the U.S. Open to become the first man and woman from India to reach the second round of the same grand slam event.

Mirza defeated Olga Govortsova of Belarus 6-2 3-6 6-3, and qualifier Devvarman beat Portugal’s Frederico Gil 6-3 6-4 6-3.