Sunday, October 29, 2006

Sania 67th on WTA charts

Sania Mirza, out of action for last couple of weeks, remained steady at 67th place on the latest WTA charts.

The Indian tennis sensation last played a Tour event in Bangkok Open, where she bowed out against Meghann Shaughnessy of America in the first round.

In the doubles, however, Sania gained one place to be 25th.

Shikha Uberoi is the highest-ranked Indian after Sania in both singles and doubles rankings, but the US-born is distantly placed beyond 100th position in the two categories.

Among the men, Leander Paes once again returned to the top-10 of the doubles rankings, advancing one spot to 10th on the ATP Tour this week.

However, his estranged partner Mahesh Bhupathi was languishing at 31st position without any loss or gain.

Sunday, October 22, 2006

sania in new york in sep 2006

































Friday, October 20, 2006

Hema Malini replaces Sania in gold ad

The Dream Girl is back and even in 2006, Hema Malini is all sparkle, quite literally.

The veteran actress has now replaced tennis star Sania Mirza as the brand ambassador of a leading jewellery firm.

"She (Sania Mirza) was taken in because we wanted to make inroads into youth. Now we are looking at a larger segment. We are looking at the entire country and middle-aged women, housewives. So we decided to associate ourselves with Hema Malini," said Kalyan, Marketing Manager, Malabar Gold.

On being how she feels being the new icon of beautiful jewellery Hema Malini says: "I feel very young."

Malayalam cinema superstar Mohanlal, who was Sania's counterpart, will now be Hema Malini's co-brand ambassador.

"Now that we have got a wonderful person, Hema Maliniji as our brand ambassador, I think this will work wonders for them," said Mohanlal.

The Company expects to do well riding on the Hema magic and may well prove that old is truly gold.

Monday, October 16, 2006

Sania slips to 68th in WTA rankings

New Delhi: Sania Mirza's dip in the rankings continued with the Indian tennis sensation lying 68th on the latest WTA charts.

Sania slipped seven places from her last week's 61st place following her first round loss to Meghann Shaughnessy of USA in Bangkok Open last week.

The American, however, has leaped to 37th from her previous 43rd rank.

The Hyderabadi, who now has 382 singles ranking points from at least two dozens of WTA tours in last couple of years, also saw downslide in her doubles rankings. She slipped one place to 27th.

Shikha Uberoi, who is next top Indian at 210th in singles, follows Sania in the doubles as well at 128th spot.

Meanwhile the top-10 list led by Amelie Mauresmo of France remains unaltered for the week.

Wednesday, October 11, 2006

Sania signs autographs (Pic)

Sania Mirza signs autographs for her fans (pic)


Indian tennis player Sania Mirza (L) signs autographs for her fans in the northern Indian city of Amritsar October 7, 2006.

No problem with Sania's game: Vijay Amritraj

New Delhi, Oct. 11 (PTI): The inconsistent Sania Mirza today got a pat on the back from former tennis ace Vijay Amritraj, who said there was nothing missing from the teenager's game and her progress should not be judged on a weekly basis.

"I see nothing wrong with Sania's game. She had done remarkably well over the last two-three years," the former Davis Cup captain said here.

However, Amritraj said that the Hyderabadi needed to improve her consistency at the highest level of the game.

Sania has had some good results in the last few weeks, but her wins over higher ranked opponents, notably former world number one Martina Hingis in Korea, have been usually followed by reversals against players ranked below her.

"Everyone strives to be more and more consistent but very few manage that," Amritraj, who reached a career-high ranking of 13, said.

"One should judge her over a whole season. As a rule, if she has five or six good weeks in a season, she can maintain her ranking."

But he pointed out that it was more important to do well in bigger events such as the Grand Slams, Masters Series and Tier I events, as they carried more ranking points.

He mentioned that world number one Roger Federer was an exceptional case.

"Federer is just playing on a different planet because he never lets his physical capabilities drop.

"No one questions other top players like Rafael Nadal or Andy Roddick if their performances fluctuate, because they know that it is very tough. But Federer is head and shoulders above everyone else," Amritraj said

Tuesday, October 10, 2006

Sania hits...


Sania Mirza hits a return during the Korea Open quarter-final in September. The PTT Bangkok Open got underway with Meghann Shaughnessy beating Mirza 6-4, 6-4.

Error-prone Sania bows out against Shaughnessy

Sania Mirza's error-strewn serves resulted in her ouster at the first hurdle in the WTA Bangkok Open here today.

The Indian lost 4-6, 4-6 against sixth seeded Meghann Shaughnessy of America in an hour and 21 minutes in the rain-interrupted first round of the prize money USD 200,000 tournament.

Sania, who slipped to 61st in the latest WTA rankings, double-faulted seven times and committed repeated unforced errors on her backhand.

Shaughnessy, now ranked 43rd, has secured two WTA titles this year. Her career best was in 2001 when she rose to 11th in the rankings.

Some of the first round matches had to be suspended due to rains.

Dhoni, Sania to campaign for NCC's promotion

Cricketer Mahender Singh Dhoni and tennis sensation Sania Mirza will soon be seen promoting National Cadet Corps in the country.

"The NCC is looking out for role models like Dhoni and Sania to promote the organisation," NCC Additional Director General Maj Gen R K Karwal told reporters on the sidelines of naval NCC cadets training camp at Sukhna lake here.

"Talks are in process with the two sportspersons and the NCC is hopeful to get favourable response from them soon," he said.

He said the NCC would increase its strength from present 13 lakh cadets to 15 lakhs in the next five years.

"The NCC is contemplating to further increase the strength of its cadets to 20 lakhs," he said adding that at present the directorates with shortfall in cadet strength were being examined.

The NCC was also in touch with the authorities to increase the subscribed seats of "C" certificate holders in institutions like Indian Military Academy (IMA) and Officers Training Academy (OTA).

"The Government had sanctioned to increase the subscribed seats of NCC cadets from 64 to 80 in IMA and from 100 to 120 in OTA," he said.

Monday, October 09, 2006

Sania slips six places in world ranking

The quarter-final loss to lower ranked Olga Poutchkova of Russia at the Tashkent Open brought another plunge in Sania Mirza's ranking as the ace Indian tennis star dropped six places to be 61st on the latest WTA world rankings released on Monday.

Sania, who had registered a slight improvement in her ranking to be at the 55th spot after beating World No 8 Martina Hingis, went down to Olga 6-4, 4-6, 6-0 to crash out of the Tashkent tournament last week.

Now, Sania, with 397 points, is ranked below the Russian, who jumped from 58th to the 46th spot.

However, the top seeded Indian woman player has maintained her doubles ranking by remaining steady at 26th for the third consecutive week.

Among other Indian women, Shikha Uberoi (219 to 213) Ankita Bhambri (363 to 361), Isha Lakhani (389 to 385) climbed up the ranking ladder while Rushmi Chakravarthi (456 to 457) slipped one place.

In men's doubles rankings, Leander Paes has maintained his No 10 position while Mahesh Bhupathi has slid two places to be at 26th spot.

Friday, October 06, 2006

Sania crashes out of Taskhent Open

India's Sania Mirza crashed out of the Taskhent Open after she lost to Olga Poutchkova of Russia 4-6, 6-4, 0-6 in the quarterfinals Friday.

It was another inconsistent performance by the Indian, who later said, she could not adjust to the conditions.

"Sometimes you don't get used to the conditions and then you don't win," said Sania, rather disappointedly.

"The balls were flying, I just didn't get to feel the ball on my racquet.

"There were some 20-25 times in the match when I wanted to go for a winner but I didn't have the confidence to go for it, I just kept pushing the ball back," she added.

After losing the first set hitting wide with an inside-out backhand at set point, Sania slumped to a 0-4 deficit in the second. Poutchkova, semi-finalist at the recent Sunfeast Open in Kolkata, then double-faulted three times to drop serve in the next game.

That triggered a Sania revival for a while and she won the next five games to take the set. During the six-game winning streak, she seemed to have regained some confidence and the winners flowed from her racquet.

The Russian won key points in the early games of the third set. Sania down 15-40 after a double fault, rallied to deuce in the second game, but could not hold her serve.

The 19-year-old Indian finally lost hope of winning, as she was down 0-40 in the fourth game. She was again broken and went 4-0 down in the set.

Thursday, October 05, 2006

Sania storms into quaterfinals of Tashkent Open

Sania Mirza overcame a stiff challenge from Hana Sromova of the Czech Republic to win her second round match 6-4, 7-5 and stormed into the quarterfinals of the Tashkent Open here today.

The third seeded Indian, who had an easy outing in the first round yesterday, was not at her elements today and made many unforced errors against the unheralded rival.

After some initial jitters, Sania seemed to have the game under her control when she served for the first set 5-2 up. But, she lost that game after five deuces, wasting two set points.

But, the Hyderabadi who turns 20 next month, made no mistake when serving for the set the second time around.

Sania' inconsistency continued to plague her in the second set and after an early break, she found herself 2-5 down and Sromova had three set points before being broken in the eighth game.

That brought Sania back in the second set and the forehand winners flowed a bit more easily as she won the last five games for the match which was delayed for more than two hours due to rain.

The world number 55 Indian will now meet six seed Olga Poutchkova of Russia tomorrow.

"I'm just happy to go through. I started playing better in the second set but I was lucky," Sania said later.

"She (Sromova) had so many set points. It could have gone either way."

Asked about her quarter-final match against Poutchkova, Sania said, "It's going to be a good match. She's one of the players I've known longest, five-six years and we play a similar kind of game."

The two have never met before in a Tour match.

This will be Sania's third straight quarter-final appearance, after her semi-final showing at Sunfeast Open in Kolkata and the quarter-finals in Korea Open where she lost to Virgina Pascual of Spain after shocking former world number one Martina Hingis of Switzerland.

Wednesday, October 04, 2006

Hopman Cup: Sania-Paes to lead India

The Hopman Cup mixed team tennis tournament is expanding into Asia with the introduction of the inaugural Asian Hopman Cup, to be held in Hyderabad, India.

The event will take place in the week beginning November 20 with the winning nation crowned Asian champions and rewarded with direct entry into the Hopman Cup proper in Perth in late December as the eighth team.

India will play host for the next three years. "In this first year we are working towards inviting the top six countries based on the leading male and female rankings," said Asian Tennis Federation president Anil Khanna.

This is expected to include nations such as Thailand and China. Host nation India will be represented by Sania Mirza and doubles great Leander Paes.

"As the winner will have the honour of competing in the Hopman Cup in Perth, this tournament is likely to showcase most of Asia's burgeoning talent," said Hopman Cup Tournament Director Paul McNamee.

"The birth of the Asian Hopman Cup is a major step in the evolution of the event." The United States is the defending Hopman Cup champion.

Sania has an easy first round at Tashkent

Sania Mirza needed just 48 minutes to ease past France's Pauline Parmentier into the second round of the Tashkent Open women's tennis event in Tashkent on Wednesday.

World No. 55 Sania defeated the 206-ranked Parmentier 6-3, 6-1 to win the first round match in convincing fashion.

"It's good to have an easy first round," said the 19-year old Hyderabadi lass, seeded third here.

"I don't have it too often. I still have to get used to these courts, they are very different from Seoul (where she reached the quarterfinals last week)."

Sania got to a quick start, breaking Parmentier twice in the first set and going 3-0 up in a flash. There was a brief stutter then as she dropped her serve.

Parmentier, however, could not do much more as the Indian broke her French rival again in the ninth game to take the set.

In the second set, Sania effected an early break to go 2-0 up.

Parmentier had another chance to come back into the match when she had Sania 0-40 in the next game but she couldn't force the break.

Sania then won 16 of the last 18 points of the match, 10 of them in a row, to canter to victory.

Sania next plays Hana Sromova of the Czech Republic. It will be their first meeting on the WTA Tour.

Monday, October 02, 2006

Sania moves up 4 places in ranking

The second-round win over world No 8 Martina Hingis at Korea Open last week helped Sania Mirza go up by four places to be at 55th spot on the latest WTA world rankings released on Monday.

Sania, who defeated Hingis 4-6 6-0 6-4 in a tough battle at Seoul, was at the 59th spot the previous week and the big win over the Swiss boosted the Hyderabadi to 428 points for the promotion.

Sania, who had a major slip in the rankings this year due to a string of forgettable performances, has the chance to regain her top ranking of World No 31. Interestingly, Sania held her career best ranking during October last year.

In the doubles rankings, the Indian ace has maintained her 26th place, which she achieved along with South African Liezel Huber after her Sunfeast Open win in Kolkata.

Among other Indian women on the WTA Tour, Shikha Uberoi (232 to 219), Ankita Bhambri (369 to 363) and Isha Lakhani (391 to 389) have registered rise in their rankings while Rushmi Chakravarthi (454 to 456) suffered a minor slide.

Sania ties up with SA trainer Mattews

Sania Mirza will work with South African fitness trainer Heath Mattews in the 2007 season in a bid to take her performance and ranking to another level.

Mattews will arrive in Hyderabad for a pre-season session with Sania in early November and the duo will spend a fortnight prior to the Hopman Cup (Asian edition) working almost exclusively on fitness, Imran, Sania's father, told the TOI.

Mattews, who has travelled extensively on the ATP circuit last season, and has worked with South African Wesley Moodie and India's doubles ace Mahesh Bhupathi, will travel with Sania, starting January 2007.

Sania, presently ranked 55th in the world, is playing at Tashkent this week and will also play in Bangkok next week, before returning home. Besides the Tour events, which might also include a tournament in Belgium later this month, Sania will play the Hopman Cup and the Doha Asian Games in December. She'll take a short break from the Tour in December to recharge her batteries for the coming season.

Imran, who doubles up as Sania's coach, added that he was on the look out for a top-notch coach for his daughter. The Hyderabad-based pro, who has had victories over players like Martina Hingis (ranked 9), Katarina Srebotnik (21) and Karolina Sprem (formerly ranked No.11) in the last couple of months, working with coaches Asif Ismail, S Narendranath and her father, will continue to get inputs from all quarters as her management team stay on the hunt for an ideal coaching partnership.

Sania, who has reached a career-high doubles ranking of 26, will not be playing any more doubles on the Tour this season and will focus on singles. She will, perforce, return to doubles play when she turns out for India in the Hopman Cup and the Doha Asian Games.

Sunday, October 01, 2006

Sania seeded third at Tashkent Open

Tashkent:Sania Mirza of India has been seeded third at the Tashkent Open tennis tournament, which starts Monday.

Italian Maria Elena Camerin is the top seed and Elena Vesnina of Russia is seeded second, as announced here after the draw Saturday.

Sania, currently ranked 59 in the world singles ranking, will face Pauline Parmentier of France in the first round.

Sania comes to Tashkent after a quarterfinal finish at the Korean Open in Seoul, losing to Spaniard Virginia Ruana Pascual, after having beaten Martina Hingis in the previous round.

Sania Mirza of India returns a shot to Spain's Virginia Ruano-Pascual (pic)

Sania Mirza of India returns a shot to Spain's Virginia Ruano-Pascual during their quarterfinal match of the Korea Open tennis tournament at Olympics Park in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, Sept. 29, 2006. Ruano Pascual won the match 7-6, 6-4, 7-6.