Anything less than a title is failure, says Sania Mirza

Sania Mirza's success is envy of many. Many hope to be in her shoes someday. But it's not as easy as it looks from the outside.

Ever since Sania returned from New York after winning her second successive Grand Slam title at the US Open with Martina Hingis, she has been on the run from one city to another. Ask her what she does on her off days, pat comes the reply, "Off day? What is that? I don't have off days."

On her way to her new challenge – Guangzhou International Women's Open in China – Sania made a brief stoppage in Mumbai. The occasion, Sania was conferred with the life membership of the Cricket Club of India a few days after Ajinkya Rahane was bestowed with the same honour. Dressed in an orange kurti, Sania was in a good mood to answer queries from the media. And she answered in her own unique fashion, bold and straightforward.

When asked about her mind set every time she enters the court, Sania said, "It's tough obviously. I am playing one format of the game. It is a lot easier on my body than people who are playing two formats. That is the reason I had to stop (playing singles) a couple of years ago. Mentally its tough because we are competing 25 weeks a year as tennis players are meant to peak every week and play." "Its not like others sports where you peak in some months or every couple of years where they need to peak. So it's not that easy. You try and peak for the Slams and hope you can tune your body in a way. That doesn't mean just because I'm going to lose my rankings if I don't peak at a Beijing tournament which is a 1000 points tourney," she adds.

According to the 28-year-old, scheduling her calendar is the hardest part. "It's the hardest thing to do, but as tennis players we are used to it . We have been doing this all our lives as well, more physically. Especially if your are playing one format of the game it is mentally tougher. Because I have already played 60 matches this year which is lot. Martina (Hingis) and I were counting the other day and we had played close to 50, there were a couple of months without each other," says Mirza.

Mirza believes success in doubles doesn't mean you have to be "best friends". "But for me you need to stand each other off the court. I think you need to leave yourself open on the court. Emotions are naked in front of each other because you show your biggest insecurities, the biggest vulnerabilities. I think it is that friendship and chemistry off the court that pulls you through a lot of tough moments." "It was huge for us to win Wimbledon. Don't forget we were 5-2 down in the serve in the final. We were down in the break and it was because of the chemistry we had that bounced back. People thought why were we were smiling, but we were just enjoying the moment. We were enjoying being on the centre court in the packed stadium. This is what we were playing for. It was that friendship that took us through, help each other, trust each other. There are days when you don't play great or your partner doesn't play great so you have to trust his abilities as well."

Mirza says with the form that she is in, anything less than a title is considered a failure. "We are the no. 1 team, I am (ranked) No. 1 and she is No 2 individually, so anything less than a title is a failure for us on paper. But it's impossible for anyone to win every tournament they play. No matter who you are, you are always going to lose one or two matches. But yeah, we try and enter every tournament to win and that's what we are going to do," adds the Hyderabadi.

Coming back to her days when she's not playing, Mirza says it is only during tournaments where she gets to rest a little. "There are no media commitments. I try fit in my practice everyday like today for me the most important part was to fit in practice and then everything followed. I got sick a couple of days ago due to lack of rest. I personally hate going out. On my rest days I dont see the gym, I don't see the racquet, lie in bed, I sit in my pyjamas and watch movies, that is my best rest day."

Probe her on who would be her partner for the Rio Olympics next year and Mirza dodges it. "There is still eight months to go for Rio. A lot of things matter. Who is playing how and how fit or healthy he or she is. Hopefully it won't be a mess. What's going to happen is hypothetical and will take a call close to the event. I am No.1 in world so the call will be mine as to who I would like to play with," she signs off.