Sania option still open

Sania’s availability depends on doctor’s verdict

New Delhi: The Indian Fed Cup team coach Enrico Piperno is keeping his fingers crossed over the possibility of Sania Mirza’s availability and said they would wait for the doctor’s verdict before taking any decision on the team composition.

“I am waiting for the doctor's report. I cannot make a comment on team composition at the moment,” Piperno told reporters on the sidelines of the team’s first practice session ahead of their Fed Cup Asia-Oceania group I qualifying campaign next week.

American-born Sikha Uberoi and Ankita Bhambri slugged it out for about two hours with Poonam Reddy and Sanaa Bhambri giving them company.

While Sania is expected to reach here by the weekend and would consult the doctors before deciding whether she would play in the Fed Cup, Rushmi Chakravarthy is playing in the $25,000 ITF event in Mumbai.

Indian hopes rest a lot on Sania, who has been carrying an ankle injury since the Australian Open.

“Sania is very much a part of the team. Sania and Shikha are the key players for India,” Piperno said.

The Hyderabad star, who last played in a WTA tournament in Florida in March, has not picked up the racket in the last three weeks and has been advised rest till she gets fully fit.

Doctors have now detected some fluid accumulation in her left ankle. It was first found in US by the tournament doctor in Miami and was later confirmed by experts in Hyderabad.