Long school holidays stretching into the summer led Sania Mirza to find a hobby. Tennis was the winner and now, aged just 18, Mirza is the toast of a billion Indians. The youngster spent those holidays honing a power-packed game -- one which enabled her to become the first Indian woman to win a WTA Tour title last month and this week to beat US Open champion Svetlana Kuznetsova.

 

It has vaulted her onto the front pages in her homeland but despite the frenzied praise the teenager remains firmly grounded. She had never set out to become a millionaire tennis star, she merely fell in love with her hobby.

 

"Maybe if I were a guy I would be playing cricket," she said.

 

"My parents were always very sports-minded. They never wanted me to play tennis professionally, but they wanted their child to play a sport, whatever it was. "I used to go swimming and passed the tennis courts every day, and that's how it started. My mum said 'Why don't you play tennis in your summer holidays because you have nothing to do except swim for an hour or whatever?', and that's how I started playing.

"And tennis just suited my style and personality.

It is not uncommon for the Tour's leading lights to wax lyrical about the strength of their forehand or serve or tactical acumen, but Mirza is disarmingly honest about her strengths and weaknesses. "To be honest, I'm not that fast on my feet," she said. "But I have amazing timing on the ball which is why, although I'm not that strong, I still hit the ball harder than most of the players on the circuit. "It just suited the way I'm built. Maybe if I played squash or badminton I needed more movement, more reflexes. So, it just happened.

"It wasn't as if we sat down one day and decided I was going to become a professional tennis player. It just happened over a period of time.

 

"Until I was 12 or 13 it was just fun. We had never thought that I was going to make it. My parents never put any pressure on me, even when I was 10 years old and went to play a match. They never told me I had to win it. "They always just told me to hit the ball as hard as I can and we'll see what happens." Nobody could have predicted what would happen. Earlier this year she became the first Indian woman to reach the third round of a Grand Slam, before falling to eventual champion Serena Williams at the Australian Open.

 

Two weeks later she made history again, beating Russian's Alyona Bondarenko in the final of the Hyderabad Open to become the first Indian woman to win a Tour event, 46 years after Ramanathan Krishnan became the first Indian man to win a title, at London's Queen's Club. But success has not come easy and it has taken sacrifice. "When I was 12 or 13, it was difficult, yes," she said. "I think it's natural to want to do what others your age are doing, so I guess you do have to make some sacrifices. "I realised that if you don't make those sacrifices I don't think you can make something out of your life and I wouldn't be sitting here now.

 

"Sometimes I did feel I was missing out, like sometimes I'd want to go to a birthday party but I couldn't because I had tennis at four. "Or sometimes I'd want to go out for a movie but I couldn't because I had to get up at six every morning. But it doesn't bother me now because I'm very happy with what is happening with my life right now." Such is her devotion to the sport, she has no time for distractions. She does, however, know what she is looking for in a potential boyfriend. "He has to be good looking and over six feet tall," she giggled. "No, on a serious note, I think he needs to understand me and he needs to be a nice person and not have any ego hassles.

 

"I need a guy who understands me."

Sania Mirza spoke to Contributing Sports Correspondent Harish Kotian in Mumbai immediately after her return from Australia.

 

How was the experience of playing in a Grand Slam tournament for the first time?

It was great!s

It was a successful first Grand Slam for me. Playing Serena Williams was a great feeling, a great experience and a greater learning experience.

How huge is the pressure of playing a Grand Slam compared to ITF tournaments?

When I am playing a Grand Slam there is actually no pressure on me because no one expects me to win the Grand Slam. But when I am playing an ITF tournament everyone expects me to win. There was actually no pressure on me, but just more of excitement and anxiety that got me nervous when I was playing Serena.

When were you more nervous at the Australian Open? Playing the first round, which was your first match at a Grand Slam, or your third round match against former champion Serena?

It's a very tough question, because I really don't know.

When I went out on to the court to play the first match I was quite nervous also, but I didn't have butterflies in my stomach the previous night.

But playing Serena, I must admit, I did have butterflies in my stomach.

How difficult was it playing the former World No. 1 as compared to other players?

I think she hits the ball harder than most of the players. It's not that it blows you off the court or anything, but she has a much bigger serve and she just looks so big that you get a little intimidated.

Besides that she is a very nice person; she had some very kind words for me after the match.

What are your views on the current women's tennis scene in India? Do you think there are others

players who can make their mark on the international scene?

There is a lot of talent in India that just needs to be nurtured. The All India Tennis Association is trying very hard to develop new talent. The government is also trying hard and helping financially with whatever they can.

It is just a matter of being a bit more patient. We have been patient all these years and I am sure we can do it for a few more years now.

A WTA event is being held in Hyderabad next month. How much will this event help in promoting tennis in India?

I think tennis in India is already promoted so much. I was reading an article other day that said, 'India is glued to another ball game', which is really nice.

Cricket in India is like a religion. Another ball game like tennis catching the imagination of the people is really a big thing. I think it is really gonna promote tennis in India.

Already India is becoming a tennis nation; soon, hopefully! I am really very excited about the whole thing.

Will you still consider playing doubles and mixed doubles in future?

Yes, definitely. If I get a chance I will definitely play it, but I have to work things out there.

If you consider mixed doubles and have to choose a partner between Mahesh Bhupathi and Leander Paes, whom would you opt for?

(laughs) I don't know.

I wonder if they would like to choose me, first of all. It's not my call; it's mixed doubles, so even they will have to see whom they want to play with.

Suppose if both of them are open to playing with you then what would your choice be?

Why don't you call them and ask them first; then I will answer your question

 

'Playing in India doesn't help a lot at the moment' - Sania

Date: September 4, 2002

Sania Mirza sits uncomfortably at one end of the couch. It is a typical day in Mumbai - humid with the rains refusing to come down and provide any respite. A sudden bout of cold has attacked her from nowhere and she is sneezing, huffing and puffing and finding it tough to even talk.

 

"I don’t know how it came. Till yesterday night I was fine," says Sania, barely able to get the words out. Tired from the morning flight from Hyderabad and irritated by the cold she would well do without.

 

However, once the topic shifts to tennis, the pain begins to take a back seat and a smile surfaces on her youthful face. Sania is on her way to New York, to play her second US Open Juniors [she lost in the first round] and is staying at her mother's best friend's house. A thin waft of breeze passes across the Marine Drive appartment. It is relaxing. Being the country's top junior women's player consistently for the last couple of years now, Sania has just been displaced off the top rung of the ladder by another talented youngster, Isha Lakahani, who is at a career high 28, while Sania is five rungs below, at 33.