The Hindu : Sport / Tennis : Sania not worried by drop in rankings

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Sep 16, 2006
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Sania not worried by drop in rankings

HYDERABAD: Sania Mirza is not unduly worried by the drop in the rankings. And there are no immediate plans for another coaching stint with Tony Roche. Time is a factor (for both Roche and Sania) and with the Hopman's Cup in Hyderabad in November and the Asian Games in Doha in December threatening to take away the year-end off-season, Sania is aiming to achieve peak fitness level at the earliest.

Back home in the company of her parents, Imran and Naseema, a visibly relaxed Sania is now focussed on the Sunfeast Open championship in Kolkata. Sania's level of confidence continues to be high. She believes there is a significant improvement in her game compared to the last year.

While Bob Brett had predicted 2 years ago that Sania could perhaps climb to top 30 at her best, Tony Roche said it would take her at least six months to reap the benefits of his training.

Her immediate target — to stay in the top 100 and to break back into the top 50 if not top 20. Always an optimist, who believes that the turnaround is round the corner, Sania takes pride in the fact that she has figured in eight straight Grand Slams.

The Mirzas are reasonably pleased with the all-round development in her game even while acknowledging the contribution of former India star Asif Ismail who worked a lot on Sania's serve and volley game.

It is just a question of time before Sania silences her critics and the Sunfeast Open in Kolkata next week might just be the right opportunity. — Principal Correspondent

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