 "Sania Mirza finds her mojo in doubles play")
Sania Mirza, in more than one way, has been the quintessential Indian sports celebrity. Hype, fame and adulation came very early in her life, way back in 2004-05, when she was touted as the best thing to have happened to Indian tennis. Soon though, injuries and loss of form took a toll, and her performance began to nosedive. From a career-high ranking of 27 in singles - she has only won a lone singles title - it plummeted, before Mirza decided to end her singles career in 2012. Three surgeries took a toll on her body and Mirza said that she would focus only on doubles. While she did beat the likes of Viktoria Azarenka, Svetlana Kuznetsova and Dinara Safina in her singles career, her stint as a solo player is nothing to write about.
Mirza has maintained that she won't be playing singles anymore - unless it's for national duty. "Rather than stubbornly persist with singles, I decided to concentrate on doubles and try to succeed there," Mirza was quoted saying in December 2013.
But she seems to have rediscovered her mojo and seems to be doing immensely better after becoming a doubles player. The year 2013 was a watershed in her career as she broke into the top-10 rankings after winning five women's doubles titles. Mirza, of course, isn't the first Indian tennis player to have succeeded in doubles tennis - Leander Paes, Mahesh Bhupathi and Rohan Bopanna have achieved success in the paired discipline after mediocre outings in singles play.
However, it is her partnership with Zimbabwe's Cara Black that signifies her journey as a doubles player. Black has been ranked number one doubles player in the world in the past and is one of the most experienced campaigners on the tennis circuit. Mirza has had three partners with whom she has won five titles - Bethanie Mattek Sands from the US, China's Zheng Jie and Black. At the Grand Slams, her best performance came at the US Open, where she reached the semi-finals with Black.
"There's more lure for Asian players in doubles than in the singles," says former national champion and Asian Games doubles gold medallist Gaurav Natekar. "Indian players see someone like Bhupathi doing well in doubles and get inspired," he adds.
The 27-year-old from Hyderabad admitted that when she was playing both formats of the game, there were weeks when her match count reached 10 in seven days. "There comes a point when your body can't take it anymore and it just collapses. After my third injury, I was faced with a tough choice: either play both formats of the game and quit after one year, or give up one and play longer. I love tennis too much to just give it up after a year. That's why I stopped playing singles. I miss singles. But I've been winning a lot in doubles and, after all, winning is what we play for," she said in an interview to a tennis website.
Natekar feels that there's absolutely nothing wrong in concentrating on one format in the sport. "It doesn't make you a failure in singles if you do well in doubles. A player knows what's best for him or her and at the end of the day it's all about winning titles," he says. Mirza has 19 titles against her name and with Black as her regular partner, there are chances that 2014 could very well be a career-defining year for Mirza. She might not get the hype she got as a singles tennis player but she could get something which actually means a lot to athletes: titles.
Mirza has maintained that she won't be playing singles anymore - unless it's for national duty. "Rather than stubbornly persist with singles, I decided to concentrate on doubles and try to succeed there," Mirza was quoted saying in December 2013.
But she seems to have rediscovered her mojo and seems to be doing immensely better after becoming a doubles player. The year 2013 was a watershed in her career as she broke into the top-10 rankings after winning five women's doubles titles. Mirza, of course, isn't the first Indian tennis player to have succeeded in doubles tennis - Leander Paes, Mahesh Bhupathi and Rohan Bopanna have achieved success in the paired discipline after mediocre outings in singles play.
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Even in mixed doubles, the Hyderabad player has achieved considerable success - in 2009 she won the Australian Open with Bhupathi and the duo teamed up again three years later to win the French Open. She has also partnered Bob Bryan, arguably one of the greatest doubles player of all time. Just last month, she reached the finals of the Australia Open at Melbourne in partnership with Romanian Horia Tecau.
However, it is her partnership with Zimbabwe's Cara Black that signifies her journey as a doubles player. Black has been ranked number one doubles player in the world in the past and is one of the most experienced campaigners on the tennis circuit. Mirza has had three partners with whom she has won five titles - Bethanie Mattek Sands from the US, China's Zheng Jie and Black. At the Grand Slams, her best performance came at the US Open, where she reached the semi-finals with Black.
"There's more lure for Asian players in doubles than in the singles," says former national champion and Asian Games doubles gold medallist Gaurav Natekar. "Indian players see someone like Bhupathi doing well in doubles and get inspired," he adds.
The 27-year-old from Hyderabad admitted that when she was playing both formats of the game, there were weeks when her match count reached 10 in seven days. "There comes a point when your body can't take it anymore and it just collapses. After my third injury, I was faced with a tough choice: either play both formats of the game and quit after one year, or give up one and play longer. I love tennis too much to just give it up after a year. That's why I stopped playing singles. I miss singles. But I've been winning a lot in doubles and, after all, winning is what we play for," she said in an interview to a tennis website.
Natekar feels that there's absolutely nothing wrong in concentrating on one format in the sport. "It doesn't make you a failure in singles if you do well in doubles. A player knows what's best for him or her and at the end of the day it's all about winning titles," he says. Mirza has 19 titles against her name and with Black as her regular partner, there are chances that 2014 could very well be a career-defining year for Mirza. She might not get the hype she got as a singles tennis player but she could get something which actually means a lot to athletes: titles.