French Open – Sania Mirza
With a nation placing their hopes on the ace tennis star Sania Mirza, the French Open final loss is hard to swallow. But the Indian tennis ace also has a sense of immense satisfaction at finishing runners-up in the women’s doubles event, given the way she was struggling for form and fitness a few months ago.
Sania was battling a career-threatening wrist injury quite a while ago. To PTI she is quoted saying “A loss is a loss at any stage and initially it hurts. But when I look at where my career was a while back, there is a feeling of immense satisfaction at what I have managed to achieve.”
She just missed a second Grand Slam title or rather it just slipped out of her hands when she lost the French Open final, along with Russian partner Elena Vesnina. The strong wind throughout the clash was a major factor but lauded her rivals for overcoming the adverse conditions better than them, she reasons.
Sania and Elena lost the final with 4-6 3-6 on the board to unseeded Czech pair of Andrea Hlavackova and Lucie Hradecka. These Czechs were the sixth unseeded pair in 30 years to win a Grand Slam.
Both the pairs committed numerous unforced errors but the Czech girls put on slightly better show which helped them to win.
“Yes, there was (wind), but in tennis, it is always the team that acclimatizes to the existing conditions that comes out on top. In the final, our opponents managed to adjust to the conditions better than us,” Sania said.
Sania also mentioned that Elena was the best of all the partners she has played with before.
They had teamed up at the start of the year and won titles at Indian Wells and Charleston, but their wait for their first Grand slam title together just got increased.
We’ve been friends since our junior days and get along wonderfully. She has a brilliant backhand and serve and is an ideal foil for the forehand and return of serve, which are my strengths.” This is what the Indian had in reply when asked about what makes the partnership so successful.
She was also asked about her Singles career and her not-so-impressive Grand Slam record.She has not reached the singles third round in a Grand Slam since the 2008 Australian Open.
But she says it’s only because she drew against strong players early.
“I don’t look at it as a jinx. I think I’ve generally lost to better players in the Grand Slams. I lost to Justine Henin in Australian Open and to Agnieszka Radwanska in French Open,” she said.
The next Grand Slam-Wimbledon is on grass, a surface where she is more at ease.
Tags: Elena Vesnina, Final, French Open, Grand Slam, Roland Garros, Sania Mirza, Tennis
