Mayar Sherif became the first Egyptian woman ever to win a game in main draw in a Grand Slam after she defeated France’s Chloe Paquet in the first round of the Australian Open on Tuesday.

Mayar, 24, defeated Paquet (7-5, 7-5) to qualify for the second round of the main draw of the Australian Open.

She will now meet the winner of the game between Russia’s Kaja Juvan and the United Kingdom’s Johanna Konta.

Mayar's win at the Australian Open today made her the first Egyptian to win a main draw game in a Grand Slam in 44 years and the first Egyptian to win in the main draw Australian Open in 50 years.

Mayar is currently ranked 128th in the world among women players — the best ranking ever to be achieved by an Egyptian woman.

Her appearance in the main draw of Australian Open is her second appearance in a main draw in a Grand Slam.Last September, She became the first Egyptian to ever play in the French Open.

Egypt's tennis legend El-Shafei, who won the men's singles tournament at Wimbledon in 1964 and was the runner up in 1963, held the last Egyptian victory in a Grand Slam for 44 years.

El-Shafei was the only Egyptian to make the top 40 in the Grand Prix/ATP rankings and one of only four players to beat former world number one Bjorn Borg of Sweden in the third round en route to a quarter-final appearance at the 1974 Wimbledon Championship.

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