Sania at home in Big Apple's core

NEW YORK: In a year in which Sania Mirza paraded her considerable gifts on the world stage — from Hobart to Hyderabad and Strasbourg to San Diego — India’s queen of aces may finally be home. The big stage performer is discovering an electric connection with the Big Apple.

New York — America’s largest city, the world’s economic nerve centre, and the quintessential capital of entertainment and arts — is also home to the US Open, tennis'rock and roll slam. Significantly, Sania, raised in the heat and dust of chilly-craving, biryani-loving Hyderabad, was born to the stage. The bigger the better. On big points, when some players choke, she scores, juts her chin and pumps her fist. When the crowd roars she rocks.

"I love New York," Sania said, laughter ringing through her voice. "It is one of my most favourite cities in the world. It is not one particular place or thing, even though I really like the Manhattan area very much. It is just everything. It is so easy to lose yourself here."

Fittingly, this week at the Forest Hills women’s tennis classic in New York, Sania made her second WTA singles final of the year. Unfortunately in the title round on Saturday she went down battling 6-3, 5-7, 4-6 to Lucie Safarova of the Czech Republic. The key then to the 18-year-old’s maiden US Open women’s campaign will be in bringing her biggest game on court. The Indian, ranked 50, opens against seasoned American Mashona Washington, 56.

The highlight of Sania’s play this year has been her fearless hitting from the back of the court. Her forehand, quickly becoming the most talked about in tennis, is absolutely lethal as much for the pace it generates as for the angles she makes. There’s no such thing as being in position for Sania she goes for it from anywhere. It is a stroke of naked aggression, struck by instinct more than design. Sania knows what to expect from the 29-year-old Washington. "She is obviously a very good player, very experienced. It is not going to be an easy match. In fact there are no easy matches at this level," the Indian teenager said. "My focus is mainly on playing my game. Winning and losing are part of the game. It is the challenge that fires me up."

If Sania comes through her opening round test she could run into Russian teenager Dinara Safina, seeded 21. A match-up that could reveal how far Sania has travelled these last eight months. However, the first round is as far as the Indian will look.

The Grand Slams more than any other tournament is an obstacle race of the mind. If it is the heat and the timing of the event that tests the resilience of the pro in Melbourne, it is the slowness of Paris’s clay and Wimbledon’s annoying weather that asks the tough questions. In New York, it is about coping with the rush of life — on the streets, on the stands, on the court. Leander Paes likens the City to a boxing ring. "There’s no place to hide here," he said.

Not that Sania is looking to hide. In fact, she’s on the opposite end of the stick. She might well be humming Frank Sinatra’s lines, "I want to wake up in the city that never sleeps. To find I am king of the hill, top of the heap.. I’ll make a brand new start in old New York. If I make it there I’ll make it anywhere."