Sania signs up with Aussie physical trainer : Sid

BANGALORE: Sania Mirza, the injured Indian tennis star, whose painful wrist condition consigned her to the sidelines for the better of the summer of 2008, has tied up with reputed trainer Amir Takla in a bid to bounce back into competitive mode.

The Hyderabadi will initially work with the heavyweight Aussie for a six-week period, starting September 2. Sania injured her right wrist during the Indian Wells tournament in late March, necessitating surgery in Miami in April.

The 21-year-old, who reached a career-high ranking of 27 in August 2007, missed the French Open and though she played the grasscourt season, struggled with her game for most part.

Sania then went on to play tournaments in Stanford, Los Angeles and Stockholm before her painful wrist condition forced her out of the first round singles match at the Beijing Olympics. She later pulled out of the US Open. She has since been advised three weeks of rest.

"I am determined to sort out this niggling problem once and for all," Sania told TOI. "I'm a positive person and I feel confident of a speedy recovery under the guidance of Amir, whose knowledge and experience is unquestionable."

Takla, a musculoskeletal and sport physiotherapist, is consultant to Tennis Australia and the Grand Slam of the Asia Pacific - the Australian Open. He specialises in strength training and injury prevention and management.

Sania first ran into the Aussie at the Australian Open earlier in the year, when he treated her after she tore her adductor muscle en route to the mixed doubles final. He was largely responsible in getting her back on her feet to play the final.

Sania's father Imran, said: "The main aim is to strengthen the wrist, and bring it to its earlier condition and level of performance. The rest of her body also needs to be strengthened. We are looking at Sania playing a few tournaments later in the year to prepare for the Australian Open."

The break from competition should give the Indian a chance to work on her overall fitness. Should she regain the control and strength on her forehand, which was the reason she went under the knife earlier in the year, she will forge a new threat in the coming season.

Sania Mirza most popular in Pakistan : Sid

The Hyderabad based tennis sensation Sania Mirza is not just a youth icon but is also a heartthrob of the teenagers. Sania is both talented as well as good looking and she is a big draw everywhere.
Sania Mirza is a big draw in Pakistan too. According to the latest reports, Sania is the most searched name in Pakistan today. Surfers in Pakistan have searched Sania Mirza on Google more than anyone else in the recent past.

Sania Mirza Retires From Singles Event in Olympics : Sid

BEIJING (Reuters) - Sania Mirza retired with a wrist injury against Czech Iveta Benesova in the first round of the Olympic tennis event on Monday.

Mirza was trailing 6-2 2-1 when her right wrist became too painful.

"It was hurting before I even came to Beijing but it's the Olympics so you have to try and give it your best shot," Mirza told reporters clutching an ice pack.

"The timing is very bad. I've been on painkillers for the last six days and took four this morning but what worries me is that I could still feel it with that many painkillers."

Mirza, who recently had wrist surgery, said she may still try and play doubles with Sunitha Rao. They were given a walkover into the second round when French pair Tatiana Golovin and Pauline Parmentier pulled out after an injury to Golovin.

Mirza's injury follows the withdrawal of top seed Ana Ivanovic on Sunday with a thumb injury.

American Lindsey Davenport also pulled out of the single

Sania blazes into the Second Round In QATAR : SIDDHARTH

Sania Mirza has defeated Romina Oprandi 6-4 6-3 and is in the second round where she is expected to play Anna Groenfield.

hope she plays well and goes pass her.

Well the sad news is that sania mirza our very own dear is not that fit after a hectic season till now.She was getting cramps in the match and that is worrying me specially.

SANIA MIRZA IN THE QUARTERS : SIDDHARTH

Sania Mirza continued to live on the edge, as she battled her way into the last eight of the WTA Bangalore Open on Thursday night.
The Indian ace worked her way up after an awful start to beat Belarussian veteran Tatiana Poutchek 3-6, 7-5, 6-2 in the second round. She will face Russia's Yaraslova Shvedova next, on Friday.
Poutchek, who had nothing more than a cross-court backhand to trouble Sania, relied too much on the Indian's errors to bail her out. The 28-year-old kept playing at Sania's backhand and hit high balls to trouble the Indian, who came out misfiring on all cylinders; the serve got nowhere and the ground strokes were sprayed all over the court as the crowd favourite found herself 0-5 down.
Though the mistakes were coming in a torrent from the Hyderabadi's racquet, it looked only a matter of time before she would pull things together and start dictating the points.
Poutchek's shots did not have the power to outrun the Indian, and once Sania was on board in the sixth game, she started dictating the points. She broke Poutchek in the seventh game and held on to 5-3, but the Belarussian served out the set at 6-3.
Sania stepped up the pace in the second set; serving an ace to close the fifth game. Sshe went onto break Poutchek and surged into a 5-2 lead






 

SANIA MIRZA ENTERS PRE-QUARTERS : SIDDHARTH

Bangalore, Feb 14: Sania Mirza moved into the pre-quarterfinals of the Sony Ericsson International tonight after winning her first round match against the experienced Slovak Martina Sucha 6-4, 4-6, 6-3.
In a match that lasted little more than two hours, Sania, ranked 46, was kept on her toes by the 26-year-old Sucha, who had advanced to her first quarter-finals of the year at Pattaya last week.
"It's difficult playing here in Bangalore at altitudes of 1000, 1200," said the second seeded Sania after failing to muster enough confidence to hold her serve in the second set. Sania dropped four games in the second set as Sucha forced the match into the decider.
Sania did appear to be tensed then and took a toilet break which did her a world of good. "It was only then that things started working for me as I began to swing a lot and played to my strength and had fun," said Sania of that break after the match.
In the third set, the unseeded Sucha was broken continuously by Sania in the third, fifth, seventh and ninth games as the discerning enjoyed each and every moment of the young Indian's power play.

"I've made lot of changes to my game and it has started working. I've matured as a person and as a tennis player," Sania aptly summed up her game.
How much of it will translate into her winning the title here? "I'm concentrating on one match at a time and even in that match, one point at a time," reacted Saniam who will bump into Tatiana Pouchek of Belarus for a place in the quarter-finals tomorrow.

Sania In The Semi Finals Of The Pattaya Open : Siddharth

PATTAYA : India's Sania Mirza twice came from behind to upset third-seeded Mara Santangelo 6-4, 7-6(4) and reach the semifinals of the Pattaya Open on Friday.
There were also victories for unseeded Sybille Bammer of Austria, who won a marathon battle against Martina Sucha, fourth seed Peng Shuai, who beat Israel's Tzipora Obziler 6-3, 6-2, and sixth seed Gisela Dulko of Argentina, who ended the run of Australia's Nicole Pratt 6-2, 6-3.
Sania made an appalling start against Santangelo, dropping her first two service games with double-faults. In contrast, her Italian opponent served well and followed up with strong groundstrokes to take a 4-1 lead before Sania finally gained a foothold.
Backhand error
With Santangelo failing to maintain the momentum, Sania fought back to 4-4 and then broke to lead 5-4 when a strong return forced Santangelo into a backhand error. Sania then closed out the set with an ace.
The second set was as closely contested as the first, with Santangelo breaking to lead 5-3 but then dropping her serve to love. Sania then went on to claim the tiebreak 7-4.
``It was the first time I had played her in singles or doubles and I was just trying to figure how she plays and get my rhythm,'' said Sania.
``It took me a little time, but I felt much better on the court and was moving better than a couple of days ago.
``I had a little serve trouble but thankfully I got the serves when I needed them. Both sets I was down, but I felt I started playing better when I was down. She has a really big serve but I started returning better, and that was a key in the tiebreak I think.''

Sania Darling at the pattaya open : Siddharth Loves SANIA MIRZA

SANIA LOOKING AT THE BALL IN HER 2ND ROUND MATCH : SIDDHARTH

Mirza Battles Into Tennis Quarters : Siddharth

PATTYA, Thailand (AFP) - India's Sania Mirza has held off a strong challenge from local favourite Tamarine Tanasugarn to reach the Pattaya Open quarter-finals 6-4, 2-6, 6-1.
Third seed Mara Santangelo also advanced, along with China's Peng Shuai and Austrian Sybille Bammer.
Mirza, the fifth seed, struggled to produce her best tennis in windy and humid conditions, and twice double-faulted on set point when leading 5-3 in the first set on Wednesday.
After a total of four double-faults she conceded the game with a wild forehand error, but then broke for the set with a winning return off a second serve.
Tanasugarn continued to press in the second set by moving the ball around well and hitting some strong groundstrokes to build a 5-1 lead.
But Mirza once again gained the upper hand in the deciding set, breaking to lead 3-1 by forcing a backhand error and then giving up just five points in the final three games against a tiring opponent.
Tanasugarn criticised the scheduling after she completed her first round match at 12.30 am, claiming that if she had played on Thursday the outcome would have been different. But that was of no concern to Mirza.
"I obviously didn't play close to my best, but under the conditions and circumstances it was a good match to win," said Mirza.
"It was a bit windy today and that was one of the reasons for the inconsistency, but I'm happy to get through to the quarters."

SANIA MIRZA OFF FOR THE PATTAYA OPEN : SIDDHARTH

Sania Mirza is all set to take part in the tier-IV Pattaya Open in Thailand whick kicks off from Monday itself and will be a very important tournament for Sania Mirza ,given her good form and her good track record against most of the fellow players,she has beaten all the top seeds who are playing in this tournament,Bartoli in the us open 2005,kirilenko twice in hyderabad 2005 and hobart in 2007,and many others.

SO it will be good chance for sania to break in the top 40 and be there where she was well before and where she deserves her place.

So lets keep our fingers crossed and pray that Sania Mirza does well in this tournament and augurs well.

All the best to her and other players too because they all are up against a more fitter and determined

SANIA MIRZA THE INDIAN TENNIS SENSATION.

SANIA BACK INTO TOP 50 : SIDDHARTH

Sania back in top 50
NEW DELHI, Jan. 29: Despite a second-round exit at the Australian Open, Sania Mirza was back among the world’s top 50 by gaining five spots to be at 48th place in the latest WTA Tour rankings. The 20-year-old Hyderabad girl defeated Ukrainian Olga Savchuk in the first round before going down tamely to Japan’s Aiko Nakamura to bow out of the singles draw in the first Grand Slam tournament of the year. Sania was benefitted by the drop in rankings of Americans Shenay Perry and an out-of-scene Venus Williams, as well as Russian Elena Vesnina. Shikha Uberoi, the next highest Indian in the rankings, dropped 20 places to be 228th. Australian Open champion Serena Williams had a steep climb from 81st to 14th place while beaten finalist Maria Sharapova of Russia took over the top ranking from Belgian Justine Henin-Hardenne. Czech Republic’s Nicole Vaidisova, who made it all the way to the last four, entered into the top-10 list by gaining three spots to be ninth. Another semi-finalist, Belgian Kim Clijsters, moved one place up to fourth. Sania, who teamed up with Spaniard Anabel Medina Garrigues to make it to the third round in women’s doubles, gained two spots to be at 23rd position. Shikha is the only other Indian in the top-100 at no. 92. Leander Paes, who did not have a great run in Melbourne, partnering Czech Republic’s Martin Damm, dropped two places to 12th on the ATP rankings. Mahesh Bhupathi, who reached the quarter-finals with Czech Radek Stepanek, rose two spots to 27th. n PTI

Sania Mirza bags Young Achievers award : Siddharth

New Delhi: Tennis star Sania Mirza and filmmaker Vishal Bharadwaj were honoured with the Society Young Achievers Award 2007 in Mumbai.
They were awarded the honour on Thursday evening for their outstanding achievements in their field.
Among the others who won awards were Vikrant and Ranjit (Business), Arnab Goswami (Media), Upen Patel (Glamour), Nandita Mahtani (Fashion), Payal Khandwala (Fine Arts), Rohit Roy (Television), Himesh Reshammiya (Performing Arts) and Shiney Ahuja (Films).
Socialite Bina Ramani was facilitated on the occasion as well, for standing up for truth in the Jessical Lall murder case.

On the panel of judges were Harsh Goenka, Mohamma Azharuddin, Jehangir Sabavala, Pankaj Udhas, Haseena Jethmalani, Mandira Bedi and Anupam Kher among others.

SANIA MIRZA LATEST PHOTOS EDITED BY $ID (HER LOVER )

$ANIA ROCKING HERE >>>>>>>>>>>BY $IDDHARTH

Sania in the AUSTRALIAN OPEN

$ania in the australian open 2007 keep coming for new pics

Sania leaves for australia:Siddharth

hi frndzz sania will be leaving for australia on 26 th or 27 th she will be playing HYUNDAI HOPMAN CUP in perth from 3oth december thought the schedule says that her first match is on 31 st december against czech republic..lets support her..,

SANIA LAUNCHES SPORTS CHANNEL:SIDDHARTH

Neo Sports announced the launch of their new 24-hour sports entertainment channel, Neo Sports Plus at a press conference yesterday afternoon at the CCI. Starting exactly an hour after schedule, five sports personalities were present for the launch (which probably explains the delay). Shooter Anjali Bhagwat, billiards player Michael Ferriera, badminton champ Pulela Gopichand, table tennis player Kamlesh Mehta and ace tennis player Sania Mirza were all present to lend their support to the new channel.The 'unveiling' of these personalities was done in a rather dramatic way. Appearing on the podium wearing white masks and the Indian cricket team's official blue jersey (?), the five removed their masks to pulsating music and flashing lights!Speaking on the occasion was Shashi Kalathil, CEO Neo Sports Broadcast, said, "When we launched Neo Sports, the only channel, which caters to cricket, the response we got was overwhelming. Neo Sports Plus is a channel especially for viewers who are passionate about different sports and our 24-hour channel which show all sports from all corners of the world. The channel goes on air as of now and I hope it is as successful as Neo Sports."The new channel has tied up with various sporting events, so be prepared to watch premier league like Bundesliga, Serie A, Copa Suda Americana and Copa Libertadores. Motor sports in the form of V8 Supercars and the Superbike World Championships will also be aired while the channel also plans to focus on the sport of Badminton by covering events like the Sudirman Cup, The Thomas Cup, The Uber Cup and the World Badminton Championship.The channel also plans to telecast all domestic and international cricket matches played in India in regional languages. The channel's first big showing will be the Duleep Trophy final that will be shown later this month

DREAM ANGEL REPLACED BY DREAM GIRL

It looks like falling down WTA rankings isn’t all that Sania Mirza, India’s tennis sensation has to worry about. Now it appears that she is even losing lucrative commercial contracts to others. As if that were not enough, to add insult to injury, her replacement is a woman old enough to be her mother, i.e. Bollywood’s dream girl of yester years, Hema Malini. Malabar Gold which had appointed India’s high profile tennis prodigy as its brand ambassador have chosen to replace her with aging actress Hema Malini. The company officials admit that there was partial success with Sania Mirza as brand ambassador in roping in the youth. However the ageless appeal of Hema Malini is what they feel will help them achieve the targets they have set. When Sania Mirza’s year-long contract with Malabar Gold expired they decided against renewing her contract. Instead Hema Malini and Mohanlal star in their new ad which was shot ironically in Hyderabad, the hometown of Sania Mirza. The officials maintain that the parting with the tennis player was mutual. Kalyan Pedibotla, marketing manager for Malabar Gold goes on to say that Hema Malini was glad to accept the offer of being associated with the brand. She also complements the other brand ambassador of the company, Mohanlal, a superstar in his own right in the Malayalam film industry. This seems to be one instance where youth has given way to age and experience. Maybe now Sania can concentrate more on pulling herself up the rankings.

SANIA MIRZA MADE A GUY AS LUCKY AS THE KOHINOOR DIAMOND :SIDDHARTH

On the second round singles match against Sandra Kloesel Sania was very nicely and bravely supported by a vocal crowd of 5000,which in the end acted as a catalyst to Sania Mirza's win over the German and in return Sania gave a guy Her racquet with which she played majority of the first set and was the mode of anger of sania because she threw the racquet in disgust and THAT RACQUET WAS GIVEN TO A LUCKY GUY FROM KOLKATA AND HE GRABBED IT WITH BoTH HANDS.HE CHEERED THE MOST AMONG ALL THE CROWD AND WAS EVEN LOOKED BY SANIA MIRZA IT WAS EVIDENT OF THE FACT THAT SANIA HERSELF GAVE HIM THE RACQUET WHICH MORMALLY DOES NOT HAPPEN... SANIA ALWAYS TRY TO KEEP HER FANS HAPPY AND THIS TIME IT WAS SEEN HOW BIG SANIA'S HEART IS AFTER ALL SHE IS ALSO A HUMAN..AND MOREOVER AN INDIAN........PLZZ REPLY WITH THE PICS OF THE GUY AND THE VIDEO WILL BE HIGHLY REGARDED...I AM SEARCHING THE PHOTO OF THE LUCKY GUY AND WILL POST IT SOONER THAN LATER..

SANIA SLUMPS TO 70:SIDDHARTH

It's a huge slump for Sania Mirza in the latest WTA rankings announced on Monday, the 19-year-old has fallen 16 places from 54 to a lowly 70. It is after Sania lost in the second round of the US Open whereas she had reached the fourth round last year. However, the good news is that Sania will have a chance to climb up if she comes up with a good show at the Sunfeast open in Kolkata next week. Martina Hingis, the world number 9, will also play in the event.Sania, however retains her ranking of 28 in doubles while Leander Paes' doubles title at the US Open has taken him back into the top 10 doubles players of the world at number nine.

SANIA CAN REACH TOP 20 :BRETT

NEW DELHI: He sweated it out for more than three hours under hot sun and high humidity, training 50-odd tennis players, but when he opted to face the microphones and the media, the subject was about his best ward from the country who was not present on the occasion — Sania Mirza.
As the coach who had predicted first that Sania would be a top-30 player when she was hovering in the 400s, and who had trained her a few times at his base in Italy, at San Remo, Bob Brett was quick to defend Sania, by saying that she was just suffering from `second year blues' on the tour.
The 52-year-old Australian who has trained the likes of Boris Becker, Goran Ivanisevic, Marat Safin and Mario Ancic, jokingly said that he had perhaps made a mistake in his assessment when he found that Sania's best ranking so far was No. 31.
On a more serious note, Bob Brett said that Sania was capable of reaching the top-20 in the next two years, if she focused as much on strengthening her strong points as she may be obsessed in working on her weaknesses.
"In the last couple of years, Sania has gone beyond all expectations," he said.
"The challenge is to stay up there. Despite much higher levels of competition, the expectations remain high.
"Her game has improved a lot, but there is no end to improvement for all of us. She may be missing easy forehands, but she still has one of the best forehands on the tour. Well, it is not about having a good serve, a strong forehand or volley, but the ability to combine them for a winning game.
She has to believe that she has a big serve. She has to believe that she has the ability to be much higher and have the discipline to work towards progress,'' said Bob Brett.
The genial coach summed up by saying that Sania was a work in progress, indeed a work of art. She has to pursue her dreams and have the motivation to prepare for the next year.
On the subject of Sania changing coaches a few times through the season, the Japanese Davis Cup coach said that it was a question of finding the right chemistry, and the results could be expected only after nine months and any good results in the first few months was just good fortune.
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