Having made a winning start at the US Open Grand Slam, Indian tennis star Sania Mirza was confident of matching her best performance at the Flushing Meadows, the fourth round appearance in 2005.
NEW YORK: Having made a winning start at the US Open Grand Slam, Indian tennis star Sania Mirza was confident of matching her best performance at the Flushing Meadows, the fourth round appearance in 2005.
"That's the goal. If I don't make it, I think I'll have a bad match or I'll be unlucky not to make it," Sania said after surviving the first round scare against Estonia's Kaia Kanepi.
Sania admitted she did not play to her potential on Tuesday and felt relieved after making the next round.
"I felt a bit up and down the whole match. It wasn't the best match I've played by far but the most important thing is getting through to the next round.
"You have to know how to turn it up when you really need to. It's the first match of a Slam. It's always hard. I knew it would be tough," she said.
If Sania manges to get past American Laura Granville in the next round, her possible third round opponent would be Russian sixth seed Anna Chakvetadze, against whom she lost twice last month.
The 20-year-old Hyderabadi feels she could have made the top-20 had injury not forced her to be out of reckoning at the start of the season.
"If I didn't have that injury at the beginning of the year maybe I would be top-20 by now. That's life. I shouldn't get too greedy. I'm having a great year. I'm playing my best tennis. I'm learning and improving every day," said Sania.
Sania also hoped that her success at the international level would draw more fellow Indians into the sport.
"It will be good to see more Indians other than cricketers play in international sports. I hope I will inspire some," she said.
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