Sania ready for the new season

Having completed a fruitful training stint with renowned coach Tony Roche, Sania Mirza is ready to return to the courts with renewed vigour.

The 19-year-old Indian ace, who hit the headlines with her aggressive brand of tennis past season, says the three-week programme in Australia with the legendary Roche has whetted her appetite and she is keen to add more colourful chapters to her career that has had a fairy tale start.

Sania, who rose from 166 to a career high 31 in world rankings in 2005, will kick start the season with a high profile exhibition event in Hong Kong from January 4.

The eight-player invitational event will feature the Williams sisters, Venus and Serena, and Kim Clijsters among others.

"Having been away from competitive tennis for a while, I am looking forward immensely to getting back on the circuit ... I am looking forward to playing the Big Girls," Sania told PTI from Sydney.

The Hyderabadi will then play the USD 600,000 tournament at Sydney from January nine before entering the Australian Open starting on January 16.

Sania, who reached the third round at the season's first Grand Slam last time when she played as a wild card, said she was aware of people's expectations following her breakthrough year.

"People have had expectations from me even when I was 10 years old. I try to switch off but you are right, it isn't always easy to do that because the expectations are really mounting," said the first Indian woman to win a Tour title. The stint with Roche should have prepared her for the tough weeks ahead. She has spent five hours each day on court with the 60-year-old Aussie, who won seven singles titles and recently coached men's world number one Roger Federer.

She was under the direct supervision of Roche and had Australia's Sophie Ferguson as hitting partner. "He (Roche) worked on my overall game with a special emphasis on the serve and volley," Sania said.

So, how good was Roche after all? Was he better than Bob Brett? "I don't think I know enough about the game to actually think of comparing these coaches who are legends," the teenager said.

"But the impression I got about Roche is that he is one who likes to add to a player's repertoire rather than change his or her style of play." Sania also had a special trainer, 23-year-old Aussie Jade Hottes, to work on her fitness during the stay in Sydney.

"I trained with her for an hour before morning session and another hour after I finished the afternoon session. She was with me on court too, attending to my niggling pains and aches and has been of great help," Sania said about Hottes who is scheduled to be with her till the Australian Open.

"It was hard work. Five hours on the court in temperatures of 38 degrees and then two hours of training in the gym or other workouts.

Sania said the back sprain that forced her to pull out of a Tour event in Bangkok in October was healed. "Initially (during the programme) a little bit but it is standing up well now and I feel no pain. I would say it is healed," she said.

Although it was a three week stay, Roche worked with her for a schedule of 15 days as he was off on weekends, when the flamboyant teenager also took time off to visit nearby places.

An interesting tennis personality accompanying Sania and her father Imran Mirza, who was with her during the programme throughout, was Bob Giltinan who reached the men's semifinals of the Australian Open in 1978.

"We had dinner with Bob Giltinan, who is my father's friend, in a riverside restaurant with his family. We went to Roche's house for a barbecue and also spent time with some Indian friends. And did some shopping with Lara Giltinan." Sania, thrilled with her stint with Roche, hoped that this would not be the first and last time she worked with the legend.

"As a person, he is very special and an absolutely wonderful human being ... I hope to con sult him as and when I feel the need, provided he can spare the time," she said.

And what did Roche have to say on her game? "He felt he did not need to work too much on my ground strokes and is pleased with my improvement in the serve and volley. He feels that in order to go to next level, I need to get physically stronger.