She loves listening to Eminem but comes from a traditional, conservative Muslim family. She wears the shortest of skirts on the court but wouldn’t be seen dead in a mini skirt in public. Welcome to the paradox that’s Sania Mirza.
Over the last few days, Sania’s exploits in the Australian Open have dominated conversations, ranging from the considerate to the critical.
'The first round win was just a fluke, no big deal' carped a few cynics. By Wednesday the opinion had changed to 'Hey, she's not bad.' But by Friday, she had won the hearts of a billion people, putting up a good show against former world No.1-cum-fashion desginer Serena Williams.
Sania has officially entered the fickle world of Indian fans. With her pierced nose and kajal-lined eyes, Sania looks like any other normal 18-year-old, with erratic mood swings and strange choices. But she’s more level-headed than most 18-year-olds are. In fact than most of us are.
Attention is nothing new for Sania, having courted it since the early age of six. She was always the ‘next big thing’, the one to watch out for. It wasn't until the summer of 2003 when the 16-year-old won the Wimbledon junior doubles title that the attention transformed into adulation. There were celebrations for three months.
Everybody wanted a piece of her, everybody wanted to know her. She was crowned the new teen queen. A normal person in a normal world would have probably changed under the harsh glare of public scrutiny. Maybe become more choosy or selective in what she says. But not Sania. Why? Because she’s not like the rest of us.
She has two extremely supportive parents in Imran and Nasima. They are also the most down-to-earth people that you would ever meet. And their daughter, Sania is just an extension of who they are.
She, to-date, remains the same in-your-face, frank Sania that she was two years ago. Still cracks jokes, laughs unabashedly and still loves biryani (and not pasta). She still chats non-stops and lives the same life. She still prays five times a day.
Not that she has gone ahead and written history, there’ll be more celebrations, more endorsements, more attention. But Sania will not change. She’ll just keep on doing what she knows, play tennis.
It’s only the world around her that will see her differently. As a bright, new shining superstar.
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But Sania Mirza will probably always remember the hug she got from her parents as she arrived here to a frenzied welcome from fans and the media. ...
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[Sports News]: Melbourne: Sania Mirza hopes that her performance at the Australian Open will inspire other women in India to greater heights in the game. ...
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[Sports News]: Melbourne: Sania Mirza reckons her parents prayers' helped propel her into the third round of the Australian Open -- but in the end they weren't ...
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