‘Everyday, it gets tougher’

After a first round exit at the French Open, Sania Mirza admits it’s getting tougher on the Tour.

PARIS: Sania Mirza admitted on Tuesday that playing among the world’s elite is not easy for a girl from a country where tennis is far from being a popular sport. Playing in just her second tournament after a five-week layoff, the Indian fell in straight sets to former champion Anastasia Myskina in the first round of the French Open on Tuesday.

“These are the negatives of coming from a country where tennis is not popular and people don’t know about training and preparation. In the past I could be running for an hour and not be match fit,” she said. “I’m growing all these muscles now that I never knew I had. I’m straining my body a lot more than I did in the last few years. It’s my second year on the circuit and every day it gets tougher. Last year every time I won it was a surprise. But now, each time I lose it’s a surprise...People have a lot of expectations for you, especially a billion people in India. It makes it hard.

“The last 14 years, everybody thought we were stupid to be playing tennis. People discouraged us saying it doesn’t make sense to play tennis but I always believed, it makes you mentally stronger.”

She added: “My goal this year is to stay in the top 50. I still want to say I want to be in the top 15.” Myskina, the 2004 French Open champion, paid tribute to the talented Sania. “She’s a good player. But I think clay is not her surface for sure, because here it involves long rallies and she likes to hit the ball. In clay you need patience, which she doesn’t have,” said Myskina.--AFP

It was never going to be easy

Bikash Mohapatra

MUMBAI: Anastasia Myskina vs Sania Mirza.

This first round match-up at the French Open was as predictable as a Bollywood potboiler and the end result — again, a pre-destined flop show — raised a few more questions about Sania’s credentials. The Indian was packed off 6-4 6-1 by the 10th seeded Russian.

Clay is, by self-admission, not Sania’s favourite surface and recurring injuries prior to the tournament implied she never had adequate time to prepare. The draw made matters worse by pitting her against Myskina, a former champion and a natural-born clay courter.

Sania, to her credit, managed to hold her ground till the 10th game of the opening set, when she was broken. It was downhill thereafter. The early defeat was disappointing but not a cause of concern if experts are to be believed. “It’s nothing to worry about. It was a tough draw and her preparation wasn’t great owing to injuries,” reasoned Enrico Piperno, India’s Fed Cup coach.

But isn’t Sania somewhat apprehensive about playing on clay? “It is more mental for her to feel apprehensive about clay. It is going to get tougher and tougher for her in future and she has to open her mind a lot as her game is not exactly suitable to the surface.”

Ganesh Raman, who was Sania’s coach during her formative years, offers an interesting piece of information. “Sania actually grew up on clay, though it was very different from what it is at Paris. But she was more natural on the hard courts, where a winner is a winner,” he says. “Clay courts give your opponent a chance to get the ball back and also, Sania likes to take the initiative in every rally and keep it to six-seven points, something which is nullified on clay, especially when your opponent is a former champion.”

Whatever be the reason, Sania’s early loss at Roland Garros continued her recent run of poor form and robbed her of a chance to create yet another record — of becoming the first Indian woman to win a match at the French capital.

Experts expect more from her at Wimbledon and the US hard court season. Piperno, however, has a few words of advice. “First, she has to get her body in shape and then she needs to be more consistent by playing more matches.”

Sania pairs up with Husarova in doubles

Sania Mirza has paired up with 31-year-old Janette Husarova of Slovakia in the women’s doubles at the French Open. The 19-year-old Indian and Janette, a former world number three and currently ranked 100 in doubles on the WTA Tour, will take on Catalina Castano of Colombia and Spaniard Martinez Granados in the opening round on Thursday.