Yuvi & Sania together

Yuvraj Singh (L) and tennis player Sania Mirza pose for a picture during the launch ceremony of an international menswear manufacturing company in Mumbai August 30, 2008.

Sania with yuvraj

India's cricket player Yuvraj Singh (L) and tennis player Sania Mirza pose for a picture during the launch ceremony of an international menswear manufacturing company in Mumbai August 30, 2008

Sania @ fashion show

Sania Mirza poses for a picture during the launch ceremony of an international menswear manufacturing company in Mumbai August 30, 2008

Sania Mirza vows to return fitter

Indian tennis star Sania Mirza is confident of getting over her current injury crisis and bouncing back into the top 50 soon with the help of a new trainer.

Mirza, 21, slipped from a career high of 27 in August last year to 70 in the latest WTA rankings after an injury-plagued season in 2008.

"It is naturally very frustrating for her to miss tournaments," Mirza's father, Imran Mirza, told AFP from the family base in Hyderabad on Friday.

"But she understands injuries are a tennis player's professional hazard and part and parcel of a sportsman's career.

"She is very positive and looking forward to bouncing back soon," he said.

Mirza injured her right wrist during the Indian Wells tournament in March and had to have surgery a month later.

She pulled out of the French Open in May-June, lost in the second round at Wimbledon and crashed out in the first round at the Beijing Olympics.

Mirza, who also withdrew from the ongoing US Open, has signed up trainer Amir Takla, a consultant with Tennis Australia.

"Takla is scheduled to arrive this weekend and will work with Sania for a period of six weeks," Imran said.

"The goal is to ensure her wrist recovers to its original strength, but at the same time the focus will also be towards optimising her overall physical fitness."

Imran refused to set a date for her return to the circuit, saying it was too early to predict.

"It is difficult to fix a timeframe for being back in competition even before work towards her rehabilitation has begun," he said.

"But we are looking at Sania playing a few tournaments later in the year to prepare for next year's Australian Open."

He also downplayed concerns over Mirza's spiralling rankings.

"When one is forced to skip Grand Slams and other compulsory tournaments... one has to expect that the ranking will come down because these are based on performances in these tournaments.

"But once the injury has been taken care of, the rankings will fall into place in due course of time. Sania is confident that after she finds her rhythm in a few months, she will be back where she belongs."

Sania signs up with Aussie physical trainer

Sania Mirza, the injured Indian tennis star, whose painful wrist condition consigned her to the sidelines for the better of the summer of 2008, has tied up with reputed trainer Amir Takla in a bid to bounce back into competitive mode.

The Hyderabadi will initially work with the heavyweight Aussie for a six-week period, starting September 2. Sania injured her right wrist during the Indian Wells tournament in late March, necessitating surgery in Miami in April.

The 21-year-old, who reached a career-high ranking of 27 in August 2007, missed the French Open and though she played the grasscourt season, struggled with her game for most part.

Sania then went on to play tournaments in Stanford, Los Angeles and Stockholm before her painful wrist condition forced her out of the first round singles match at the Beijing Olympics. She later pulled out of the US Open. She has since been advised three weeks of rest.

"I am determined to sort out this niggling problem once and for all," Sania told TOI. "I'm a positive person and I feel confident of a speedy recovery under the guidance of Amir, whose knowledge and experience is unquestionable."

Takla, a musculoskeletal and sport physiotherapist, is consultant to Tennis Australia and the Grand Slam of the Asia Pacific - the Australian Open. He specialises in strength training and injury prevention and management.

Sania first ran into the Aussie at the Australian Open earlier in the year, when he treated her after she tore her adductor muscle en route to the mixed doubles final. He was largely responsible in getting her back on her feet to play the final.

Sania's father Imran, said: "The main aim is to strengthen the wrist, and bring it to its earlier condition and level of performance. The rest of her body also needs to be strengthened. We are looking at Sania playing a few tournaments later in the year to prepare for the Australian Open."

The break from competition should give the Indian a chance to work on her overall fitness. Should she regain the control and strength on her forehand, which was the reason she went under the knife earlier in the year, she will forge a new threat in the coming season.

CNN interview - sania

Sania spoke exclusively to CNN-IBN’s sports editor Gaurav Kalra about her road to recovery and many more.

Here are the excerpts from the interview:

Sania: Few tests are done. It is heeling and it will take few more weeks. It is making progress, it stops hurting but as soon as I start playing it again starts hurting. There is a different problem to what it was when I had a surgery. It was a bit disappointing that it really took off at the Olympic but this is sports I guess.

Gaurav Kalra: Yes Sania, it has been one of those years, you haven’t had a chance to play much and as soon as you have gone to the court there have been injury concerns. Has it been very frustrating to have gone through 2008 and experienced all of this?

Sania: Yes, of course and especially when you are probably playing the best tennis of your life arguably and you have the potential to may be have the best year of your life and then you are walked down by injuries, of course it is very frustrating. But, I guess as an athlete you know, you have learnt that you have to deal with these things and it is going to be a part of our lives. We keep playing after putting ourselves through so much every day, physically and mentally but yes it is frustrating to be watching sitting out of grand slams and having to have retired the Olympic.

Gaurav Kalra: What do you make up these? Abhinav's performance at the Olympic, winning a gold medal for the first time an individual gold medal for an Indian and then the boxers and wrestlers, they all making us proud?

Sania: Yes, I think it has been probably arguably our best Olympics ever. We had a gold, two bronzes and in sports we probably least expected something. May be in shooting we did expect but these people have just prove to everyone of us here that if they can do it anyone can and I think it is a new sense of inspiration for lot many people who may have just started to think of taking up boxing as their career or taking up shooting or wrestling for that matter. I would personally like to congratulate Abhinav Bindra, Sushil Kumar and Vijender Kumar for what they have done. They have shown us the new light and it inspired me and I am sure it has inspired the whole of India as well.

Gaurav Kalra: What do you make up this? Nadal vs Federer, the first one is the big tennis rivalry that everyone is talking about. We got a sense from the viewers listerning to you that you kind of preferred Roger Federer over Rafael Nadal?

Sania: I think Roger doesn’t matter if he is number 2 in the world today, it does not matter if he becomes 100 in the world, he is still going to be Roger Federer, he has been Roger Federer. I am very bias so I am going to say Roger Federer will win.

Gaurav Kalra: Look at the records Sania.

Sania: He (Federer) is a genius and like you said he surprised everyone in the Olympic by winning the doubles gold so you don’t know he might again come up and win it again but on a serious note Rafa is playing really well and probably he is playing the best he has ever played and yes it is going to be really hard for Roger to beat him but at the end of the day he is the King.

Sanias interview : video

Sania's free fall continues

Sania Mirza's free fall continued with the Indian tennis ace sliding seven places to 70th in the latest WTA rankings issued on Monday.

Sania, who had to concede her opening round game in the Beijing olympics owing to her wrist injury, has 470 points to her credit in the rankings headed by Serbian Ana Ivanovic.

The Hyderabadi had a her career-high 27th exactly a year ago but a string of poor shows and a recurring wrist injury saw her sliding down in the rankings.

She is also not participating in the fourth and last Grand Slam of the year -- US Open -- because of the nagging injury.

Sania to miss us open; Sania disappointed

Sania Mirza will miss the U.S. Open that gets underway on August 25 in Flushing Meadows, according to her father Imran Mirza.

In a statement released here on Thursday, Imran Mirza said that the Indian ace, who struggled to come to terms with her game since undergoing a wrist surgery to repair a torn capsule, had been advised complete rest for an initial period of three weeks by her doctor after undergoing intensive tests.

“The injury had forced her to retire in her first round singles match in the Beijing Olympics,” Imran added.

Sania injured her right wrist during the Indiana Wells tournament in late March, necessitating a surgery in Miami in April.

“I’ve always done well at the U.S. Open and it is very disappointing for me to miss a Grand Slam on my favourite surface due to my wrist injury,” Sania said.

Sania mirza may appear in big boss 2 reality show

After the premature exit of jade goody, the producers of BIGG BOSS 2 endemol and Tv Channel Colors found them self into a big fix, to win the situation over , unconfirmed reports and internal sources of endemol have pointed that, in a hurried up exercise they have created three teams to talk separately with three young hot female celebrities Sania Mirza , Yana Gupta and Super Sexy Sherlyn chopra.

Sania mirza is already out of Us Open tennis tournament , with rest advised from her doctors, she seems to be a perfect celebrity with enough oomph and mystery surrounding her personality , as there is a very little about her out in media. Sania Mirza's entry into BIGG BOSS 2 will ensure never seen TRP hikes in the History of Indian reality TV . She will guarantee the young viewers hogging the TV sets.

Now this seems to be good news for us, we could watch her for whole day :)

src: http://whatiexpect.in/2008082391/blogs/sania-mirza-yana-gupta-sherlyn-chopra-one-of-them-to-replace-jade-goody-in-bigg-boss-2.html

Sania mirza looking beautiful

is Shahid dating sania ???

There was a news item in April .. i doubt are they still dating each other or are they just friends?
read this article

The love affair between youngsters Shahid Kapur and tennis sensation Sania Mirza is still very much on… read on…

The pair were spotted at Mumbai’s Lokhandwala Complex recently. “Sania was with Shahid in his Mercedes Benz at Tarapore Gardens. The couple was enjoying each other’s company. Shahid looked dashing in a grey T-shirt, blue cap and blue jeans, while Sania was wearing a long yellow T-shirt and jeans. Just seeing them together made it clear that Shahid and Sania are definitely more than just friends,” revealed an onlooker.

Shahid then drove Sania to Ahmad Khan’s home where the two spent the afternoon listening to songs of Shahid’s forthcoming film Kismet Konnection.

Later in the day, the pair went to a five-star restaurant for some dinner and then later booked a room in a Bandra hote

WTA rankings: Sania moves up to 63rd spot

Sania Mirza has moved two slots up to 63rd position as Ana Ivanovic regains her number one singles position in the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) rankings on Monday.

Sania, who has been going through an indifferent form following surgery to her right wrist soon after the Australian Open in January, has moved from 65 to 63 from 19 Tour events. She has, however, remained at number 27 in the doubles, playing in 13 events.

Tearfil sania ...

A tearful Sania Mirza has retired from the Olympic singles tournament with a right wrist injury

Sania injured

India's Sania Mirza (seen here in July 2008) has retired from the Olympic singles tournament with a right wrist injury, shattering her "dream" to play here and dealing a blow to Indian hopes

Sania Mirza of India serves

Sania Mirza of India serves to Iveta Benesova of the Czech Republic during their women's first round tennis match at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games August 11, 2008

Sania Mirza reacts during her women's first round tennis match

Sania Mirza of India reacts during her women's first round tennis match against Iveta Benesova of the Czech Republic at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games August 11, 2008.

Sania Mirza fan of Aisam-ul Haq

ndia�s tennis sensation Sania Mirza has expressed willingness to play exhibition matches in Pakistan, but added that she was yet to receive a formal invitation in this regard.

Pakistan Tennis Federation (PTF) president Syed Dilawar Abbas has last month announced inviting Sania Mirza to play a couple of mixed doubles matches to promote tennis in the country. �Sania has even promised to waive off her match fee and will charge only two million rupees as appearance money,� he had stated.

She said that during her younger says she had played tennis in Pakistan and found people very friendly.

�I have yet to receive a formal invitation to play exhibition matches in Pakistan. But whenever an opportunity comes, I would visit Pakistan to play matches,� The News quoted her as saying in Beijing.

Sania said that she knew that she had got followers in Pakistan. �I know Pakistan tennis followers love my game and want to see me in action. I am ready to come to Pakistan to play exhibition matches,� she said.

She praised Pakistan tennis star Aisam-ul Haq and said that he could improve his ranking further provided he keeps on playing circuit tournaments. �He is a very good player, even better than his ranking suggests and has the ability to improve his ranking further,� she said.

Wrist injury forces Sania to pull out of US Open

After a heart-breaking Olympic debut at Beijing, Sania Mirza on Thursday pulled out of the US Open, as she is yet to recover from a nagging wrist injury.

The Hyederabadi player has been advised a three-week rest by her doctor while the fourth and last Grand Slam of the year kicks off from Monday.

“Sania Mirza has been advised complete rest for an initial period of three weeks by her consulting doctor after undergoing intensive tests,” a press statement said.

Sania, who hurt her right wrist in March and was operated upon in April, was troubled again by the injury and had to concede her opening round match in the Olympics against Iveta Benesova of Czech Republic after trailing 1-6 1-2.

Earlier, she had also skipped entire clay court season including the French Open.

India’s numero uno women’s player said she was disappointed for not being able to participate in the elite event.

“I’ve always done well at the US Open and it is very disappointing for me to miss the Grand Slam on my favourite surface due to my wrist injury.” she said.

Sania to miss us open; Sania disappointed

Sania Mirza will miss the U.S. Open that gets underway on August 25 in Flushing Meadows, according to her father Imran Mirza.

In a statement released here on Thursday, Imran Mirza said that the Indian ace, who struggled to come to terms with her game since undergoing a wrist surgery to repair a torn capsule, had been advised complete rest for an initial period of three weeks by her doctor after undergoing intensive tests.

“The injury had forced her to retire in her first round singles match in the Beijing Olympics,” Imran added.

Sania injured her right wrist during the Indiana Wells tournament in late March, necessitating a surgery in Miami in April.

“I’ve always done well at the U.S. Open and it is very disappointing for me to miss a Grand Slam on my favourite surface due to my wrist injury,” Sania said.