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Sania Mirza: Way to go!
BY A CORRESPONDENT
Update: Sania Mirza crashes out of
US Open in fourth round
Sania Mirza
lost her fourth round US Open match to
Maria Sharapova in a thrilling match
today.
Badly
hampered by a weak serve - well-known
already - she offered a tough fight,
but went down 6-2, 6-1 to the number
one seed Maria Sharapova.
A full crowd
enthusiastically supported and cheered
Sania, but to no avail.
Sania Mirza
was a handful for maria Sharapova -
something that the scoreline does not
indicate. Sharapova had to put up her
best game to handle the hard-hitting
Indian.
Sania
definitely looked like she still ahs
to work hard on her weak serves and
unforced errors, but the experience
would be handy for her in the future.
---- Update End --
31 August 2005: Sania Mirza, Indian tennis sensation has made to the second round of US Open, after defeating world number 65 Mashona Washington ranked 23 places below Sania. In the next round, Sania Mirza moves on to play world number 81 Elena Camerin Despite some health and fitness problems, Sania played her best, outshining Washington 7-6(8-6), 6-7(6-8), 6-4.
For Sania, women’s singles victory comes after overcoming her fitness problems, which had a lot of her numerous Indian fans on tenterhooks. Sania Mirza has been stretched out with the strained abdominal muscle for some time now.
 The 18-year old Sania Mirza has been positively noticed in the American media too, with USA Today penning a profile on the global Indian.
Sania Mirza was born in Hyderabad in 1986, and trained under encouragement from her father. Sania took to tennis at a very young age, and was later trained under the guidance of CGK Bhupathi, father of the other Indian tennis star Mahesh Bhupathi.
Sania Mirza has been known for her bold and aggressive tennis, which belie her celebrity looks. A right handed tennis player (double handed backhand), she aspires to be in the top 20 in the world. Now that she has broken into the top 50, it could only be a matter for time for Sania, Allah willing.
Yes, Sania is a devout Muslim, with parents who try to observe Namaz five times a day. It may be a joyous irony for many Indians that the country, which has never seen any woman tennis star before, has suddenly thrown up a teenager from a minority community which is sometimes seen as not favorably disposed to women baring their skin.
But Sania does not see anything wrong here. She thinks that whether she wears mini-skirts, shorts or whatever else, what matters is her faith. And her tennis, obviously!
Says fourth seeded Kim Clijsters: "Sania Mirza is definitely a girl with a lot of talent. She's very nice too. I spoke to her a few times in Toronto last week. She's very easy going. I think her best tennis is incredible."
It is not just in India that Sania Mirza is a hero. Around the world, NRIs young and old tune in whenever Sania is on screen. Many of them exude pride talking about the globally successful Indian teenager, who has excelled in a field dominated by non-Indian players.
In 2005 February, Sania Mirza became the first Indian woman to win a WTA singles title, outclassing Alyona Bondarenko in the Hyderabad Open Finals.
Sporting her trademark pierced nose, Sania Mirza flew over 150 slots in the WTA ranking since early 2005.
Sania Mirza names Steffi Graf as her favorite player and likes swimming and music. Sania also claims to be a big admirer of Mahatma Gandhi.
BY A CORRESPONDENT
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