The Hindu : Sport / Tennis : It's a dream come true for me: Nirupama Sanjeev

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It's a dream come true for me: Nirupama Sanjeev

Rayan Rozario

Coimbatore: She has not been at the biggies for six long years but Nirupama Vaidyanathan, 33, has just walked into the Indian tennis team for the Commonwealth Games.

If you're surprised, even shocked, that this is happening in ‘Sania land', you must hear the story of this strong woman, the former Indian No. 1 who has just returned from the US.

For life had been one long, rough road — now Nirupama Sanjeev after her marriage — and the hard lessons which have strengthened her mentally will come in very handy on her comeback road to big tennis and to India.

Nirupama, former World No. 139, has not lost any of her charm. She believes that she still has the power and the guile to upset even a top player on her best day.

“It feels really great to be back, playing for my country. It's a dream come true for me. I am hitting the ball much harder. And, I can tell you for sure that my game has certainly not gone down,” said Nirupama, the first Indian woman to figure in a Grand Slam (Australian Open 1999) in the open era.

How did she manage her comeback? What motivated her? “I did not really plan a comeback because I had a rough pregnancy,” said Nirupama, about the hard time she had about four years ago.

“I was one of the high-risk patients, but if I have come back from all that and if I am going to play for India then it shows how tough I am mentally.

“My big aim was to hit the top 100 bracket, which I could never do. I was 139 when I left tennis. But, I would still call it an achievement because I was able to do that with minimum resources and under tough conditions,” said Nirupama, who landed in Coimbatore, her home city, from the national camp on Saturday.

One just hopes, the Commonwealth Games opens a new chapter in Nirupama's life.

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