Sania shouldn’t let the grass grow under her clay feet

When the clay has settled, Sania would be the first to realise that she has entered the big league. Beating a 70-ranked player might have been an achievement months ago; it is an expectation now.

For Sania, it’s time to wake up and smell the coffee. If she has to stay in the league, she has to work — hard — on her game, constantly improve and innovate. When her ankle injury took her out, she was causing a series of upsets; she’d beaten three players from the top 100 in her first three tournaments. She hasn’t looked the same player after the layoff, when, ideally, she would have wanted to be at her best against more serious competition she finds herself in.

On her comeback, she has lost three matches (including the one at Roland Garros) and has won only one — against a player ranked 226.

Life was always going to be tough in the Top 100. Players in double-digit rankings have much more variety in their game, which they use to telling effect. The ‘‘extra bit’’, which Sania has pulled out of her hat on occasion to overwhelm higher-ranked opponents, just isn’t enough.

What Sania needs is variety. She broke Gisella Dulko four times in the first round and still lost, because she couldn’t come up with something new to unsettle her 30th-seeded opponent. What separated the two were the weapons they both had in their arsenal.

Even accounting for the fact that clay is not Sania’s preferred surface, she showed an alarming range of limitations — including her serve, once again — and was easily overpowered by Dulko’s all-round game.

Sania’s advantage now is that the circuit moves to the faster grass and hard-court surfaces that she prefers. Her famous big forehands will fetch bigger dividends — but she must also work on her serve and consistency.