Spotlight on crowd favourite Sania

SAIBAL BOSE

TIMES NEWS NETWORK
KOLKATA: When did Sania Mirza last watch Indian girls play tennis? Perhaps, even she does not remember. On Sunday, Sania took an unaccustomed seat in the stands to watch Ankita Bhambri beat Isha Lakhani for a place in the main round.

The seemingly impregnable ‘security’ shield around her relaxed too, as photographers gleefully clicked the teenage sensation in soothing pink. Later, she even allowed photographers at her practice session. Good signs on eve of the biggest women’s tennis event ever in this city, the Sunfeast Open, a Tier III WTA meet.

Sania, despite her firstround loss in the Bali Open last week, remains the sentimental favourite to lift the trophy next Sunday.However, former French Open champion and top-seed Anastasia Myskina of Russia is the overwhelming favourite. Myskina’s form has dipped since her Roland Garros victory last year and Sania and others see hope there. This year, Myskina has made it to only one final, the Stockholm Open, where she lost in straight sets to a much lower ranked Katarina Srebotnik of Slovakia. Myskina has slid from a career high world No. 2 to No. 13. Sania on the other hand, has had a meteoric rise, from 142 to 34 this year. That should give her confidence, along with the fact that she plays well against higher ranked players.

The two players are in different halves of the draw and can meet only in the final. To get there, Sania will have to beat the likes of Elena Likhovsteva,whom she’ll meet in the semi-finals if the seedings hold. Likhovtseva, ranked No. 13, reached the semi-finals of the French Open this year, her best performance ever in a Grand Slam. To top it, Likhovtseva beat Myskina in the US Open before losing in the fourth round. However, she has yet to win a WTA Tour title this year. The 30-year-old Russian has many memorable victories in the past.

The question is, can she turn the clock back here? Sania’s likely quarter-final opponent, seventh-seeded Karolina Sprem of Croatia, suffered a dramatic slide in rankings after starting the year as No. 18. Back trouble and illness has hampered Sprem this year. Sprem’s rise was meteoric, just like Sania’s. In 2003 she shot from world No. 273 to 59. But coming into the Sunfeast Open, Sprem in ranked 85 and hoping to rise as fast as she fell. That should be a warning for Sania: This Croatian girl is capable of causing a few upsets. The Indian ace opens against Ryoko Fuda of Japan.