Sania Mirza: Why is India glorifying a tennis loser?

the writer is right to some extent but overall he is very harsh. look she is world no.44 right now which is not that bad and in fact pretty good.

Sania has become famous because of the glamour that she wields along with the dashing beginning she made. I feel that she is more glamourous than many of the bollywood heroines .That infact catapulted her to true life "heroine"

As I am sure that the writer of this article knows, Sania is the first woman from India to break into top 50 in the world. I agree with the writer's assessment that she is not doing as well as we all hoped (or dreamed) she would be doing. Having said that, it is all relative in the real world. Is the writer of this article one of the top 50 in the world in writing about sports? definitely not and also he has no hopes of reaching top 50 in sports writing in the world. It is important not to throw stones when you are living inside a glass building. It is always easy to criticize other people. Let the writer first achieve something (it does not have to be sports access; it is enough to be a success in sports writing) before throwing stones at others. -Gopal

The most apt comment of the writer in this article is "I am not a tennis expert". Can't he understand that Sania is glorified simply because there is hardly any other Indian woman player who is capable of even making to a Grand Slam let alone winning any rounds, whereas, Sania has been consistently appearing in all the Grand Slam events and often winning few rounds. She has achieved feats that no other Indian woman has ever done. She is the best Indian woman tennis player in the country and is likely to remain at the top for many years to come. She has also defeated few top ten players of the world. Being Indian, she seems to lack the required physique and stamina and, being from a middle class Indian family, couldn't possibly afford top coaches in her younger days to be free of all flaws in her technique (in particular, her serve) and hence is unlikely to reach the top in the world. She seems to be trying her best anyway. So we should all be happy with whatever best we can afford in such a popular (and app

I find it commendable that the author feels obligated to commend the Indian cricket team, which is also mediocre, as a team and on an individual basis. The fact that they endorse all kinds of brands, associated or not (to sport) is irrelevant to the author. Objectively, Ms. Mirza is "only" a top-50 player, and ping-pongs a lot. Sure, no one can deny that. However, her achievements have been accomplished on her own merit. Not by back-slapping 15 other team mates. It was never "clear" that she would get where she did. Yes, India does seem to produce a lot of athletes who struggle to get past a certain stage of accomplishment. The blame is not entirely on the faceless system or the individual athlete and it is not my expertise to judge who is more responsible. However, the author is not a tennis player, probably has never run a mile in his life and still wants to label a bright, talented kid, who is trying, past all naysayers and couch-potato critics, because she believes in her dream. What the author thin

Another over rated player...nothing new in India. I think Sania should go back to Hyderabad and sweep the tennis courts, because thats were the loser belongs! Some more advice, she should spend less time signing endoresement deals and more time on the tennis court and then maybe she could win something. She is not India's pride. She should try and lose some weight..then she could run faster.

Sania actually lost in the second round of the French Open this year. If you're going to write such a critical article, at least bother to get your facts right!

yes. Indian media is insane. i am an indian though

1) Gopal: I do not aim to become one of the top 50 writers in the world. And I don't need to be a tennis player to write on tennis. I mean, does one need to be a cook to appreciate cooking? 2) Anuradha: a) Cricketers have come up on merit too, just like Sania. Just that when Sehwag was out of form, he was chucked out and the media doesn't cover him. Sania is covered irrespective of her losses. And I'll be thrilled if Sania can do better. 3) Sania is a tennis player first, and a woman next. What I simply asked is that why champions like Paes-Bhupathi not given as much coverage. 4) I request you to please comment on the article, not on me. None of you know me personally. 'The author hasn't run a mile' etc. etc do not add anything to the article in question. Please attack the message and not the messenger.

This is to the writer "Tennis Lover", I do not agree with what you are saying at all. In your comment you state 'being Indian, she seems to lack the required physique and stamina and, being from a middle class Indian family, couldn't possibly afford top coaches '. I think that you are forgetting that Venus and Serena Williams could not afford 'top coaches' at the beginning, as we all know that they came from one of the roughest areas Compten, California in America and lived a tough life, but they are still amazing players not letting the media attention get to their heads like Sania Mirza. I think the writer is being fair to Sania, she is in the top 40 but what we are forgetting is that she is the only female tennis player in India, who has made it this far or been given a chance. This shows that India needs to stop investing so much money in to their movie industry (which makes rubbish movies as it is, just copies of Hollywood blockbusters but with singing in) and more money in womens sports. I think s

as tennis lover has said..she is the only indian woman capable of entering and winning if only a round or two at any grand slam event..to the author and all those who feel she is product of media..try this....run to the top of a multi storeyed building...u'l see the first steps were easy bt getting to the top at the same pace is not as easy as writing an article on your computer... m sure most of the critics dont even know the game right..

Yes its true, media is responsible for this, media should be fair, Paes and Mahesh are better than Sania, media should write this. Sania is champion in ads and interview not in tennis anyway.

Buddhadev - The media (newspapers, business magazines et al) cater not just to people like you who understand tennis better or follow it closer. If you want a more knowledgeable and deeper coverage of tennis, subscribe to tennis magazines, and you will be lucky enough not to read about Sania Mirza first thing in the morning (although you might see glorified articles about Taylor Dent or Robby Ginepri). Now what I think is that you already know all that I've told, and you have just written this article to have some media coverage on your thoughts - which in my book, is no different than reading an article about Sania in the morning newspapers - both of which gives me nothing new as a tennis lover.

perfect

Sania plays singles whereas Leander and Mahesh only play doubles at present. It is well known that in tennis the charm essentially lies in singles. That is why most of the top players hardly ever participate in doubles. Leander and Mahesh could reach the highest singles ranking of 73 and 217 in their entire singles career whereas Sania has already reached 31 in such a short span. They had career singles titles of one and zero respectively and Sania already has one (and was very close to winning more). Nevertheless, they did receive accolades in their hey days and still continue to be reasonably popular. Therefore, the entire reasoning of the article (and critical comments of the readers) seems baseless. Most of us can neither set an example by doing better than others nor appreciate a few achieving something in life. The reasons in Sania’s case, in particular, are not very difficult to imagine. We need encouraging experts like Vijay Amritraj to talk on tennis, who has very recently said that Sania is a top

First, its quite unfair to compare Sania with Paes and Bhupathi... At the time when they were winning (please note doubles and mixed doubles. they never had any singles standing)... they were getting their due accolades and coverage. Secondly... what is your main point in the above article... are you more worried about sania's dismal performance or its her media coverage or its the comparison with other stars like Paes, or even Cricket (which I seriously failed to relate). Sania is trying hard to create a mark in singles.. You will have to understand she was the first and still the only player in women's tennis to reach Top 50 rankings from India. She was the only one to reach respectable rounds and is still trying hard to do that. At least here is one player whom we still have hopes. With due respect to all the other players listed in your article who have earned their fame in their own fame, I feel the above article was an unfair and in accurate comarison and representation of the current players

Agreed she is a mediocre player. But dont deny she is a symbol. A teenage muslim girl from a conservative city playing wimbledon. I think she is the symbol of India shedding its bigotry.

Abhilash: Sania playing tennis is not India shedding its bigotry. There were fatwas issued by Muslim clerics because she wore short skirts. Others: Paes/Bhupathi are primarily doubles players, agreed. But still they are more meritorious. And Sania deserves accolades for being the first Indian woman to break into tennis. But let's leave it at that. Post that she has not done anything that merits headlines.

I have represented my university twice and I know how difficult it is to compete with the best. Sania not only competes with world-class players, but also has won against them on occaision. That should say something about her resolve and enthusiasm and heart! Despite the injuries, the physical and mental toll she has had to endure, she has maintained her poise and drive! Living out of a suitcase is hard for anyone, let alone a young girl who has led a sheltered life as are most Indian girls! Sania has been condemned for her dressing style and for her partnership with a jewish player by religious bigots, yet stood up for herself and for the sport - no other athelete has had to do that! Single-handedly she has broken taboos and has reached across religious divides by partnering with a jewish player and by not embacing the bigotry of both her and the jewish communities! At her tender age of 20 she has carried the hopes and aspirations of an entire nation! Has there ever been another ahelete in our nation

hello boy,You're Indian right?still you're making fun of sania who is the best sportswomen ever from India. I am American and America has produced millions of players in tennis but India just got a few and if u think they r bad, it think you suck and one of my favorite player is Sania and i sure sge will step up her game reach the world with it.

I disagree, Alvin. Not by a long shot. I would rank one of PT Usha, Ashwini Nachappa, Koneru Humpy, Anjali Bhagwat, Anju George, Diana Eduljee, Anjum Chopra etc. Sania is nowhere close to them as far as performance goes. And just because Sania is India doesn't mean that I go ga-ga over her 2nd round defeats over the past so many years. Asghar, name one top 10 player that Mirza has beaten.

Budha, your question to Asghar “name one top ten player that Sania has beaten” leaves you completely exposed. You should always do your research properly before setting on to writing such articles and responses. You better allow your baseless article to die its natural death rather than keep on responding with such non-sense. The three top ten players Sania had beaten by Sept 2006 are Svetlana Kuznetsova, Nadia Petrova and Martina Hingis. Subsequently she defeated a former top ten player, Alicia Molik, at Hobart. Nowadays, even kids can locate all this information on the Internet within a matter of seconds. What a shame.

Hi When I read ur article I got to know that you dont have a good idea about Tennis and the players who play that sport. It is one of the toughest (Physically and mentally) games played. The Player has to fight against all the odds alone on court. You may think that Sania is given an undeserved coverage by the Indian media. If you think so you are wrong. The world media popularises her mostly for her audacious style of play . If you do not believe it, go to several tennis tournament websites and see urself. Let us talk about her game. As Vijay Amirtaraj quoted Indian players get their peak Physical strength a little late when compared to the European and American players. If you look at Martina Hingis(I am great fan of her as she plays like a woman tennis player (now a days most of the girls play like men) and has a great tactical game) - She attained great fame when she was just 16. But when she reached 22, she lost most of her fitness because of the extreme pressure she put to her body. But look at