Sania Mirza - A 'Tennis' Sensation?. Review on Sania Mirza

Sania Mirza – A ‘Tennis’ Sensation ?

I have been waiting for a chance to write a frank review on Sania Mirza, and I have got the time now, its not just criticism but a practical reason for her current failures in the game, which brought her to this level. According to me, these are more or less the main reasons for her terrible game play, which we have seen in the recent times.

I totally agree to the fact that she might be a great sensation in our country, because she being the only female tennis star to represent our country in this field of sport in the world class arena, not that there aren’t any other Indian players who could outperform Sania, just that they are all pulled down due to various other reasons which I am not taking into consideration here. But how did she turn into a sensation in our country? She played quite well at the start, but then the sudden decline? A budding star going down the drain never comes back, believe me, this is the tradition, especially in a game which is highly competitive, and requires highly developed skills and lot of hard work.

We always tend to blame the infrastructure, the possible physical fitness problems and so on. Now, let me tell, Sania couldn’t have reached this level without an infrastructure in India, enough for a tennis player to reach world class level, but to survive in the world class level, it does take the breath out of you. She has just started the journey, we cannot just keep on talking about physical problems at this young age, because all these are just a media hype, lets just take the example of Navaratilova or Davenport, they are really old at this game, and probably tired, I have never seen them giving physical fitness problems for their inability to play at their best at certain times. Even if they do have physical problems, its because they give in all effort to practice and make play perfect, but here in our country, its just not possible, because once fame has entered into your life, you just tend to bias yourself towards the media, and that’s where Sania has made a big mistake. I want to quote this, if Sania gives in all her time going around for ads and other non game related stuff, she will not only improve at her game play, but also cherish her dream to reach top 50, for now at least, this seems improbable. But by practice, what is impossible could be changed later to improbable and then to inevitable. Frankly, is it just because of her game play she is this famous? I don’t think so. How many of us think that she does have good strokes and her game play is world class. In her last game, I didn’t notice her even giving a proper serve! Terrible enough that the opponent actually got tired, playing such an uncompetitive player, it was absolutely terrible. But the media didn’t fall back, claiming she worked hard and gave a great fight back, and whatever, which she didn’t do. Such a terribly ordinary performance, that clearly shows she hasn’t practiced at all. Till now she has beat only amateur players, but that is not enough, now the trend being to lose to amateur players. She has to realize her potential and should be a fighter, to reach the top.

The fame which she has now at least, is only because of her glamour! This is the truth. Frankly, I am asking again, how many people really think she has the fighting instinct, from the last few games, it was not there. We all know that she is not as God gifted player compared to the likes of Henin-Hardenne or Maria Sharapova, for Sania to reach at least close to them, she has to work hard for another 5 years, with constant practice. Again the media is to blame, comparing her to Serena and possibility of hers to reach the No.1 spot in the world. This kind of media appraisal tends to give the player some kind of over confidence. If she thinks she is gaining enough money from her ad contracts, again its her choice, but in order to cherish our Indian dream to see an Indian girl to actually rule a sport field, well, she has a long way to go, but at the current streak in which she is going, I am terribly disappointed like every other Indian.

I hope she realizes her mistakes and not just concentrate on her fitness problems, but to forget that part, and work on her weaknesses, strive for success, learn the different game plays of different other major tennis stars, like Maria Sharapova or Lindsay Davenport, again, I would like to highlight the serves of Davenport, how many faults do we see her create while serving, may be a maximum of 2-3 which is natural, but look at how marvelously she has worked on it! It’s just splendid, but yes it does not come in a day or two. Let’s all give Sania some more time to realize all this facts, but if she does not hit back, then we just have to wait for someone else to take up her place! But I am sure, gradually; she will become queen of tennis, at least in India! She should act as a role model to the other budding tennis stars of our country, and why not the whole of the world! Some stars in India whom she could take up as role models are P.T.Usha, Anju, Leander-Bhupathi, Malleshwari etc.

Cheers to Sania! Best of luck to her in the future. Let’s just hope she shatters the wall, clear the dark clouds over her, to give a rebirth to the bright sunshine, God has gifted to her.

Anoop Menon(anoopcm33)