From watching Rafael Nadal on TV to meeting him at the Australian Open: A look at Iranian teen Meshkatolzahra Safi's historic journey
Iranian teenager Meshkatolzahra Safi became the first player from her nation to win a Grand Slam juniors match by defeating Kazakhstan's Aruzhan Sagandikova in the opening round of the Australian Open. The 17-year-old won 6-1, 6-2 to reach the second round of the girls' singles event.
Meshkatolzahra Safi became the 1st girl from Iran to win a Grand Slam juniors match. 
Angella Okutoyi became the 1st girl from Kenya to win a Grand Slam juniors match.
Two historic milestones in the #AusOpen juniors today:
🇮🇷 Meshkatolzahra Safi became the 1st girl from Iran to win a Grand Slam juniors match.
🇰🇪 Angella Okutoyi became the 1st girl from Kenya to win a Grand Slam juniors match. https://t.co/8gQhcG5Yb3
After the match, the Iranian spoke to The National about the importance of not giving up on your dreams, even if people say they are impossible.
“I just really want to say don’t give up on your dreams because when I started my journey, everybody in Iran was saying, ‘this is impossible, playing Grand Slams is impossible, you cannot do that’; especially to my mom. So just keep pushing yourself, believe in your dreams, and don’t listen to everybody who is saying these things. This is really big for me and I hope I can continue; but I continue in every tough situation in my life, I just want to continue more."
Safi said her first memories of tennis were of watching Rafael Nadal play. This made her "curious" to find out if there were any tennis courts in Iran where she could practice.
"In my country, if you ask which sport they like, they’ll say football. I remember the day I was watching television with my mother and we were watching Rafael Nadal, and we were so curious to see if there is any tennis court in Iran that we could go to just try."
"My family they are in love with sport, especially my father, he was a football player when he was younger and we were really curious: ‘What is tennis? Maybe I could try this?’ When I started tennis they said I’m talented but I mean, I found out later what is ‘talented’ because when I see the players here, when I see the juniors, the pros here, I can see what is ‘talented’,” the teenager said.
During the Australian Open, the Iranian got an opportunity to meet Nadal, who reached the semifinals of the competition after beating Denis Shapovalov on Tuesday.
From gaining interest about the sport from watching @RafaelNadal on TV (H/T @ITFTennis) to winning a match in the #AusOpen girls' draw & meeting him.
Awesome experience for @FresnoStateWTEN signee Meshkatolzahra Safi, the first girl from Iran to win a Grand Slam juniors match 🇮🇷 https://t.co/U7Ulio4frJ
Meshkatolzahra Safi's journey at the Australian Open came to an end in the second round
Safi eventually lost in the second round of the girls' singles event to eighth-seeded Belgian Sofia Costoulas.
The Iranian is currently ranked No. 74 in the ITF World junior rankings. Before the Australian Open, she competed at the J2 tennis tournament in Chandigarh and reached the quarterfinals before losing to Vlada Mincheva.