The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : Sania prepared for new season

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Dec 24, 2008
ePaper | Mobile/PDA Version

Karnataka

Karnataka - Bangalore

Sania prepared for new season

Kalyan Ashok

Packing in courage and talent, she is now raring to go

Photo: K. Gopinathan

Back in business: Tennis icon Sania Mirza speaking to The Hindu at a training workshop in Bangalore. —

BANGALORE: Sania Mirza perhaps is the most searched Indian sportswoman on the Web. Glamour, courage and undeniable talent — all are packed in her five-foot-eight inch frame, which makes the 22-year-old the poster girl of Indian sports. Her popularity and fan-following rivals that of any Bollywood star, and her earnings have even touched the $1 million mark.

Yet for all her achievements, Sania has remained a down-to-earth girl, pragmatic and positive in attitude, with sound family values, sharing a close relationship with her parents Imran Mirza and Naseema, and sister Anum. The Indian tennis icon spent three weeks at the Bhupathi ‘Tennis Village’ in Kodigehalli here, working on her game and fitness, as she prepares to take on the 2009 season.

Hit by injury

The year 2008 has not been kind to Sania. Plagued by injury (on her right wrist), she missed out on big tournaments including the French Open and U.S. Open, and retired hurt in first round of the Olympics. Her prolonged absence and treatment for over four months had affected her ranking. From an all-time high of No. 27, she slid past the 100 rank mark, but this certainly had nothing to do with her form. In a sport where rankings change every week, the long layoff was bound to affect her, and it has. But Sania is determined to bounce back.

She radiated positive energy indeed, as she punished herself on the court and in the gym along with Mahesh Bhupathi and other Davis Cup winner Rohan Bopanna. “I am a positive person. True, 2008 did not go the way I wanted, but I am ready and fit now, raring to go,” she said. Sania wound up her training stint last Friday, before she flew back home.

Tennis is also a mental game, and this is where Sania’s father Imran Mirza, who was her coach early on, plays a key role.

“I have been telling her that whatever she takes into the new season is a bonus. She has also been urged to leave behind the recent bad patch,” he said.

Sania herself acknowledges that she would rather be in the present. “I have stopped thinking about what will happen. What counts for me is the ‘now’… making the best of it.”

Just like any youngster, Sania has also had her streaks of impatience, but says she has learnt to overcome them. “I did not know what kind of treatment to go in for and which doctor to see when there was an injury. All that waiting has taught me patience.” “That patience should translate itself into creating opportunities on court,” felt her American coach Scott Davidoff, who predicts her return with a bang. Sania, during her break (Sunday was her off day), watched a Ranji Trophy cricket match at the Chinnaswamy Stadium, and all cameras stayed focused on her rather than on the proceedings, in the middle. She shopped and watched films too. During her stay here, she made a quick a dash to Chennai to receive an honorary doctorate from MGR University. “Nice to know you can be honoured like this for achievement in your field,” she said.

Return to academics

She forewent an opportunity to become a doctor, for the sake of tennis, and hopes to return to academics and major in Psychology when she is through with the game.

If not a psychologist, may be a fashion designer? “I have sent some of my designs to Adidas and I am working on a few things with my friend who is studying fashion designing and management in London,” she said.

But for the moment, all that can wait and what fans want to see now is the Hyderabadi returning to her winning ways!

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Karnataka