AS SANIA MIRZA TAKES A FEW MONTHS OFF FROM AHECTIC PLAYING SEASON TO SAVOUR GOLGAPPAS WITH ROGER FEDERER, SHE TALKS ABOUT HER FORM, EXPECTATIONS FROM RIO OLYMPICS AND WHO SHE MIGHT PARTNER WITH FOR THE DOUBLES

It was in 2012, just before the London Olympics, that Sania Mirza was the centre of attraction. It was not for her game, however. She was in the news for the way she was being used as “bait” by Leander Paes, Mahesh Bhupathi and the All India Tennis Association (AITA) for their own selfish reasons

Mirza was caught in the middle of a disagreement among three big egos on who she should partner with in the mixed doubles event at the London Olympics. She still had not come into her own yet, but it was a start, when she wrote an open letter accusing all three of them of chauvinism.

Four years on, perhaps it’s time to let bygones be bygones. Plus, now she is the world No 1 in doubles. She has nothing to fear and this time, she is the one who is going to call the shots on who she will partner at the 2016 Rio Olympics.

The 29-year-old Hyderabadi is India’s best hope in tennis to win a medal at Rio, be it doubles or mixed doubles. Who she is going to play alongside is something every tennis fan will be keeping an eye on. But her stature as tennis queen will ensure there will be no repeat of the drama that took place prior to the London Games.

After all, Mirza is not just the darling of Indian tennis. The best players of the sport around the world have good things to say about her. When none other than Roger Federer sings songs in her praise, it is a further vindication and you know she has proven her critics wrong in the past four years.

At present, at the end of a long 11-month season, like any other player, Mirza too is battling with injuries and heartbreaks. But her climb to the world’s top ranking, her feat of becoming the first female tennis player from India to achieve this, will banish all that hurt in one go.

During this time of rest and preparing for the next season, she has tasted golgappas with Roger Federer, Nick Kyrgios and Kristina Mladenovic in the streets of Delhi. Mirza is also busy playing the International Premier Tennis League (IPTL) in different parts of the world.

TOUGH TO REPEAT 2015

Now that she has won two Grand Slam and eight other titles in 2015, Mirza senses the pressure that is on her. Striving hard to better the previous year would be her next big battle, similar to her overcoming her wrist injury after the London Olympics. “Next year, if not better, hopefully, we can equal what we have done. It’s tough to have a better year than 2015. But, who knows what we (with doubles partner Martina Hingis) can do together. It would be great to win another Slam,” said the Indian heartthrob.

It’s not just about the year, however. Mirza feels her entire career has been amazing, with the past few years being especially great. “It so happened that in one year, we have been able to dominate the court. It’s a contribution of many years. The hard work, the sacrifice that has gone in from the family, the faith of the people and the media, everyone who has been with me,” she added.

It was not an easy road for Mirza to achieve this success after turning professional in 2004. She became India’s best in singles soon enough, but it was a hard climb then onwards. She kept working hard without much success and one of the big reasons for her struggle was her frequent injuries. It was her defeat in the final of 2010 Commonwealth Games singles that prompted her to ponder hard about her future. “I probably worked harder than I used to because I was older and my recovery, slower,” she says. It was also the time when she started taking the doubles game seriously.

As she explains, “When I was playing singles, and was always among the top 30 in singles, I was among the top 20 in doubles and was playing a lot of doubles matches. Yet, singles was always a priority for me. And then my body started giving in, which was around mid-2012. That was when I decided to reset my goals.” Mirza had to work really hard probably harder than ever to climb up to this level. “We all did. Not climbing hills but going up stadium stairs, doing hill workouts. It was very normal. Like I said, I work a lot harder now that I have been injured and driven to a point where my career was almost over. But I still need to watch out a little bit because I still have a condition that needs managing.”

DOUBLES LEGACY

India seems to be establishing a legacy in doubles tennis. Many say it is possible only because the top singles players don’t play doubles regularly. But Mirza has an explanation for that, too.

“For men, perhaps, you can say that. But I don’t think you can say that for women,” says Mirza, adding how everyone plays doubles — whether it is the Williams sisters or anyone else. “Besides, I can speak for women’s doubles and say that everyone who was playing or is playing was a top 2030 singles player and I think that is why the women’s doubles is so much more complete in terms of a game,” she says. She’s right — if you take the top 20 women’s doubles players, you will find that at least 15 of them are still playing singles. And the other five-six of them have played singles at the highest level.

Another Hyderabadi sportswoman, badminton star Saina Nehwal, became the No 1 in her sport this year. Mirza feels this is the best time for Indian women to focus on sports as a career, similar to how it was for Chinese women two decades ago. “I feel now is probably the best time we have had in women’s sports. Not just two world number ones in their respective sports, we also have MC Mary Kom who is a five-time world boxing champion. So, I believe this is the start of something good for other sports in India, too. This is how it may all begin,” says Mirza, with a smile.

EXPECTATIONS FROM RIO

As for the selection of partners for next year’s Rio Games, Mirza said it is still too early at this point to make those decisions. “It depends on who is healthy, who is playing well, who is not playing well, which two people get along on the court and which two don’t. It’s just a decision that needs to be made, but I don’t think it needs to be made right now,” she says. With the acumen and a record to call the shots this time, Mirza hopes her elevated status as the top -ranked women’s doubles player will allow her to have her say when decisions are being made in 2016. The decisions this time could be much simpler as Mahesh Bhupathi is focusing on his business interests such as the IPTL. Mirza might have to choose between Rohan Bopanna, currently India’s top men’s doubles player, or Leander Paes, in the mixed doubles. The fact that Bopanna and Mirza have been partnering at the IPTL could well be a hint for the future.