Unseeded Indian star Sania Mirza pulled a major upset on Wednesday at the AEGON Classic Tennis tournament, played here in Birmingham, England. Mirza took out home-town favourite Anne Keothavong 6-1, 7-6(5) in a match that lasted one hour and 27 minutes.

"I didn't expect to play my best tennis at this tournament because it's my first grass court tournament," Keothavong said. "I got off to a slow start and I was pretty flat. I had my chances in the second set but I didn't close it out.

"Sania's a quality opponent and she's dangerous when she gets a good strike on the ball. I was a bit passive and I was too far behind the baseline at times - playing a bit of clay court tennis instead of grass court tennis. There are plenty of things for me to work on before Eastbourne and Wimbledon."

In a day that suffered several rain delays, 12th seed Tamarine Tanasugarn also saw her dream of another grass court title end when she was beaten by Britain's Naomi Cavaday 7-6(5), 2-6, 6-4.

"She has a great record on grass and has a great record full stop," said Cavaday. "The biggest thing today was my belief. I never stopped believing in myself and that's what got me through during the tough times in the match."

Other winners of the day included third seed Aleksandra Wozniak, who edged past Olga Govortsova 6-4, 6-4 and Swiss Stefanie Voegele who ended sixth seed Ekaterina Makarova's title campaign with a tough 6-3, 3-6, 6-2 win.