Sania will not compete in singles, to focus on doubles at Grand Slams

Winning an Olympic medal may remain an unfulfilled dream for Sania Mirza but the Indian tennis ace is not losing sleep over it and would continue to push her battle-hardened body to win one or two Grand Slam titles before ending her career, says a report in The Times Of India, adding that a few things are certain to change in Sania's career, post Olympics as she will not be seen competing in the singles events on the WTA Tour from now on and doubles is all she will play.

Her Grand Slam winning mixed doubles combination with Mahesh Bhupathi is also under doubt since the two players have not spoken yet about continuing their partnership.  In a few days when the US Open begins in New York, it will be known if Sania and Bhupathi will come together as team after their friendly relationship was hit by selection controversy ahead of Olympics.

Meanwhile a DNA report says that India's star tennis player Sania Mirza, whose career has been plagued by several injuries of late, has now decided to completely shift her focus on playing doubles only. The 26-year-old Sania, who could not win a medal at the just concluded London Olympics, said she still enjoyed playing singles but the time has come for her to concentrate only on doubles in view of her recent injuries. Her wrist and knee injuries have troubled her and even threatened a pre-mature end to her career.

According to the report, talking about Olympics,  Sania said, “As someone who has taken immense pride in playing for the nation in whatever role I was asked to don, I am completely at peace with myself, knowing that I've given it my everything as far as the Olympics or other multi-discipline events are concerned. I would have felt incomplete if I had never been a part of the Olympics, which to me is the ultimate experience of the spirit of brotherhood and camaraderie between all sportsmen of various countries of the world. I think there is a bit of destiny involved in winning. The greatest of them all, Roger Federer has never struck gold in singles in which he is the undisputed King of the game and that does not make him any lesser singles player. Neither has Pete Sampras ever won an Olympic medal. Tennis players are very fortunate that unlike some disciplines of sport, in mega-sporting events like the Grand Slams, they have a huge platform to showcase their talents on the world stage once every few months.”