ACE AGAINST ODDS
Sania Mirza
Harper Collins
238 pages; Rs 499
As an athlete, Sania Mirza probably doesn't get as much credit as she deserves. She has an extremely powerful CV - all four Grand Slam doubles titles, world number one ranking, and a rich haul of medals while representing India - and is the greatest woman tennis player India has ever produced. Yet, somehow, Mirza has had to perpetually prove her talent and achievements to Indians who follow the sport.
Her book, Ace Against Odds, may have partially redressed that balance since Mirza opens up about her life, achievements, struggles and controversies. Her story is certainly a fascinating one but I wish she had chosen to tell it in a more interesting manner.
Ace Against Odds has been co-authored by sports journalist Shivani Gupta but it displays little of a journalist's flair. To start with, the chronological nature of the book wears the reader down. We go through each chapter of Mirza's life as it unfolds in wearying detail instead of focusing on the highs and lows of her career.
The really interesting parts of the book are in the first few chapters because they reveal the travails of being an athlete in India, especially if you are a girl. Mirza's account of her struggles to make it big as a tennis player, including tumultuous journeys to play in various tournaments, is insightful and inspiring but also eye-opening in terms of the multiple prejudices she had to face. Though her father Imran Mirza - who is also, curiously, a co-author of this book - has been one of the driving force of her career, Mirza credits her mother equally for her success. "It was my mother who played a pivotal role during those critical years by always being there to take care of everything else that was needed," she writes.
The other revealing aspect of the book is the media's approach to Mirza over the years, and she expresses her bemusement and bitterness as a result of it. As a woman who defied stereotyping by virtue of her career choice, it would be no exaggeration to describe the media's fascination with her as unhealthy in multiple ways. Mirza acknowledges that the media offered her plenty of encouragement in her initial playing days. Then, as she came into the limelight, pointless controversies were created and far too much newsprint was wasted about off-court incidents rather than her on-court heroics.
An indictment by conservative religious groups about the short dresses she wore on the tennis court was one of them (she issued a dignified "no comment" to that). Her marriage to Shoaib Malik, a former captain of the Pakistan cricket team, was another. She was hauled over the coals by a certain brand of muscular nationalists for apparently "insulting the nation" and trampling on the Tricolour, all because of a personal choice.
The problem with Ace Against the Odds is that it starts getting repetitive when it comes to Mirza's career. Each season on tour is described in detail. Some anecdotes do stand out, but every chapter somehow has a similar feel to it - highs, lows, injuries and, of course, controversies.
In singles, Mirza achieved a career-best ranking of 27 but when injuries started to take a toll, she focused on her doubles career. Doubles tennis players lead curious lives and there are very few who end up playing with just one partner throughout their career. The book is a particularly engaging read when she talks about the challenges of playing with different partners.
To succeed at the top level, it is well known that athletes need supreme confidence and a certain amount of arrogance. Mirza has always had a lot of confidence - sometimes mistaken for arrogance - or maybe it is arrogance and that comes across in her book as well. She takes a lot of pride in proving the "experts" and critics wrong every time they write her off.
She makes no bones about the fact that her aim was to become the world's top player in doubles after injuries ended her singles career. Although she isn't brash or critical, it's obvious that certain partners weren't up to "her level." That was until she met Martina Hingis in 2015. Hingis has been Mirza's most successful partner and instrumental in her becoming world number one. "Safina," as the pair came to be known, won 41 matches, including three Grand Slam titles, before they chose to split last week after serial defeats. It is obvious, however, that they were good friends. Their joint statement underlined that point and Hingis wrote a strong Foreword to this book.
Ace Against Odds is a book that starts off brilliantly but somehow struggles to hold your interest as it trudges along. In many ways, it's just like Mirza's singles career which started off brilliantly but petered out due to injuries. How I wish the book had mirrored her doubles' career, which has been quite remarkable.
