Wednesday, October 29, 2008

Sania mirza with dad (pic)

Sania moves up ranks

Sania Mirza gained a place to be 97th in women’s singles ranking while in doubles she lost three places to be placed 62nd.

Thursday, October 23, 2008

Sania on a positive note


Sania Mirza was relaxed and confident, as she faced the media after another good training session at the DLTA Complex. She had finished her stint in the Capital with friend Radhika Tulpule, who has graduated from her playing days to be one of the best ITF-qualified coaches in the country.

Having seen through the tough phase in her career, when she could not bear watching the U.S. Open on the television, or lift a glass of water, as she had been troubled by a wrist injury that had flared up after surgery, during the Olympics in Beijing, the 21-year-old Sania was understandably composed.

“I have been practising for two weeks. It has been great. By God’s grace, the wrist is good. Everything is positive at the moment,” Sania said, as she warmed up for the tougher questions.

She was clear not to put a date for her return to the professional tennis circuit, or set an immediate goal in terms of rankings.

“At the moment, everything is a bonus for me. I am happy to be healthy. We don’t appreciate it unless we go through injuries. I take it by one day. I don’t even think about tomorrow”, she said in a philosophical tone.

“It is no secret that your ranking goes down when you are not playing. I did not care much about the ranking when I was 27 in the world, or 550. As long as you play the game well and you have the confidence, you are going to make it back. I do see the headlines when my ranking goes down to 98 or 99. As players, we don’t sit on a Monday to see where our ranking figures,” remarked Sania as she had a dig at a section of the media that has been religiously capturing her fall in the ranking ladder.

Sania conceded that as a sportsperson, one had to go through such phases when injuries dampen the spirit, and observed that she wanted to see the positive side of it all.

“It is weird for me to sleep in the same bed for a month. But, on the positive side, it was great to spend time with family. After a long time, we were all together for Eid. It is great to catch up with friends,” she said, as she compared her current status with her otherwise busy schedule, flying around the world, week after week.

courtesy : The hindu

Wednesday, October 22, 2008

Sania enjoyed watching cricket

NEW DELHI: Sania Mirza might be a renowned name in women's tennis but it's cricket that sets her pulse racing. Therefore it comes as no surprise when she exults at India's historic win over Australia and finds Sachin Tendulkar's milestone of becoming the leading Test scorer inspiring.
Sania, who is in the Capital for the treatment of her chronic wrist injury, said she thoroughly enjoyed India's 320-run record win at Mohali on Tuesday. "Cricket has been my first love. It was great to see India winning over the best team in the world with such a big margin," said the Hyderabadi, who has been practising at the Delhi Lawn Tennis Association (DLTA).
Asked how she felt when her favourite cricketer Sachin bested West Indian Brian Lara's record she said: "It is very inspiring, not only for myself but for every cricket follower. Sachin is one of the best cricketer of the world, so it is a proud moment for everyone. I messaged to congratulate him."
The 21-year-old says she is recovering well from her wrist injury.
"It has been tough mentally for me. It was painful not to play at the US open as I have always done well there. But I am a person who likes to take positives from every situation. But I have not set a date for myself to return on the circuit."
"Hopefully, I should be back for the Hong Kong event," Sania said who will be flying back to Hyderabad on Thursday.

Monday, October 20, 2008

Sania in depression; eyeing for comeback


NEW DELHI: Forced to stay away from courts for almost half the season, a fit again Sania Mirza is eyeing a comeback at January's Classic tennis tournament in Hong Kong and revealed that she almost sunk into depression while struggling to recover from a wrist injury.

The Indian ace is out of action since Beijing Olympics, where her wrist injury flared up again and she had to concede her first round singles match.

Sharing the trauma she faced when she ran out of options to get her wrist healed, she said it was difficult to cope with the situation at that time.

"It was scary. It was career threatening. I was almost going through depression. I think the post-injury period is more difficult to cope with and I am happy to be back. But I never doubted that I cannot make a comeback ," Sania, who is in capital for the treatment, said.

Sania said she was keen to make a comeback but was not in a hurry. She confirmed that she will play a team tournament in Hong Kong in January before resuming her Tour activities.

"It is a big honour to represent Asia. It is great to be a part of such a large field, where you have players like (Jelena) Jankovic and (Maria) Sharapova. But we still have two-and-a-half months to go and it is very long period in tennis," she said after spending about an hour on the DLTA courts, practicing with Radhika Tulpule.

Talking about the next season, she said she was approaching it cautiously.

"I don't want to jump the gun. I want to take it day by day. If tomorrow it hurts again, I have to take rest again. But now it is good I am not feeling any pain while hitting. I am back to my routine. And it's great to be back," Sania said.

Australian physiotherapist Amir Takla and many other suggested a surgery for healing the injured wrist and then on the recommendation of Indian cricketer Yuvraj Singh, Sania consulted Jatin Choudhry, who by applying spiral therapy healed her injury in a very short period.

"It is great blessing. I am lucky to find somebody like Jatin. It was almost a desperate time. Then he came and did a miracle," Sania said.

"A lot of people thought that I needed another surgery to heal and said it was the only option. There were countless MRIs and I was running around hospitals. So, it is really miraculous to have it healed like this.

"He (Yuvraj) said 'why don't you try and give it a shot'. I did not have a choice. He really played a big part (in healing the wrist)," she said.

"It's almost two weeks that I have been hitting the ball and it's pain free. I am also surprised (by the fast recovery). It's a Korean Therapy and it worked on me. By God's grace it is going well and very close to how it was before the injury," she added.

Sania, who has courted one or the other controversy in her career at regular intervals, also made it clear that idea of not playing in India never crossed her mind.

After the flag controversy during the Hopman cup, Sania had spoke of not playing in India but insisted that it never meant that she will not play in her home country forever.

"I never said I do not want to play in India. It was something put into my mouth and blown out of proportion. I had just said that 'this week (Bangalore Open) I don't want to play'.

"I love playing in India and who would not want play before the home crowd and fans. I would play tournament in India if it suits my Tour schedule," she said.

Sania though utilised her absence from the court to improve her fitness. She is looking in a lot better shape and she revealed how she did it.

"I was getting obsessed to run. I was on the treadmill. I needed to take care of the upper part of the body. I did lot of cardios. Going to gym, getting rehabilitation. And I think it was a blessing in disguise," she said.

She might be on the verge of crashing out of top-100 in the world rankings, but Sania says it does not affect her.

"Rankings have never bothered me. As a player the benchmark for me is how you feel on the court. If I play crap on court and I am ranked 20 that does not make me a great tennis player. Important is how I feel. So I am not worried about the falling rankings.

"And it is not that I am playing bad and my ranking is falling, I am not playing at all," she signed off.

Wednesday, October 15, 2008

Sania slides in WTA rankings

Sania Mirza maintained her last week’s 98th position in the singles, while she slipped from her previous week’s doubles ranking of 44 th to occupy the 56th spot in this week’s WTA rankings.

Tuesday, October 14, 2008

Sania: brand ambassador Adidas (pic)

Addidas to launch Sania Mirza’s signature collection

Commenting on her signature collection, Sania Mirza, adidas brand ambassador said, “I am extremely excited about my signature collection. The range reflects my personality and while designing we have paid close attention to style and comfort. The range is sporty and at the same time blends in a little bling and detailing without being over the top. I hope my fans would enjoy wearing the range as much as I enjoyed designing it with the team at adidas”.

Thursday, October 09, 2008

Sania mirza to lead Asia-Pacific

Sania Mirza will spearhead the Asia-Pacific challenge in the World Team Challenge tournament in Hong Kong next year.

The January 7-10 tournament, a new concept and warm-up competition for the Australian Open, will feature four teams representing Europe, Russia, the Americas and Asia-Pacific.

Each team will be represented by three players who would compete in both singles and doubles, Hong Kong Tennis Patrons' Association president Ian Wade said today.

There will be a semi-final draw for the teams, with each tie consisting of singles and doubles rubbers. The two teams which scores the most number of wins overall will progress to the final.

World number one Jelena Jankovic will lead Team Europe, Venus Williams will head the Americas, while Maria Sharapova will be leading Russia. The rest of the field will be announced later.

The tournament will replace the JB Group Classic exhibition, which is traditionally a warm-up event for women in the run up to the first Grand Slam of the season in Melbourne in January

Sania Mirza dating a Telugu actor

Sania Mirza who seems to have a soft corner for actors (Akshay Kumar, Shahid Kapur) is now very friendly with Telugu actor Navdeep Pallapolu.

Monday, October 06, 2008

Can Sania power herself back to top rankings? (pic)

Sania may drop out of top 100

Sania Mirza is on the verge of dropping out of top-100 as she lost seven places to be 98th in the latest WTA rankings.

Wednesday, October 01, 2008

Red hot Sania (pics)