Sania Mirza lost in the first round of the French Open and that has made her road to London Olympics very difficult. She had a good last year and along with Elena Vesnina was the most successful doubles team in 2011. But Sania with her first round defeat may find it hard to be in the top-10 of the WTA doubles rankings till the cut-off mark which is June 11.
The top 10 players get direct entry into the women’s draw. Sania is at number 10 right now and may slip down the list. Sania now will hope that she enters the completion as a wild card and she has also made it clear that she deserves to play in the Olympics and that is not a surprise because every player thinks that he/she has it in them to perform at the big stage. The All India Tennis Association has also said that Sania Mirza is too good a player to miss on an Olympic chance and has said that she they are confident of finding a way for Sania to play in the Olympics.
So, the question that arises is whether Sania really deserves a wild card entry in the Olympics. Sania Mirza has done well in the doubles department, but her performance in singles has not been good over the years. She has still not made any influence in any of the grand slam in the singles category. Sania’s performance in the Beijing Olympic was not good as she lost in the first round in the singles category and lost her second round match in the doubles.
Doubles is where Sania has performed quite well and that may just be the sole reason on which the wild card can go in her favour. She did well the last time she played in the French Open and was the runner-up with Elena Vesnina.
Sania won her first Grand Slam title when she paired up with Indian tennis great, Mahesh Bhupathi and won the Australian Open in 2009, even in 2008, Sania and Bhupathi came close to winning French Open, but they lost in the finals.
Sania is not very well equipped for singles game, as she makes far too many unforced errors and her service has always been very week. Sania fails to win long rallies and just tries a bit too hard to finish a point quickly. She does have a strong forehand and can give any player tough times with her blistering ground strokes, but overall her game is not suited for singles.
The reason why she has done well in doubles is because in doubles there is rarely a big rally and a point lasts for around 4-5 strokes. That gives Sania an opportunity to use her power as there is not much running involved in it.
For Sania winning an Olympic medal in singles or doubles is a tough deal, but she does have a good chance in mixed doubles because she is most likely to pair Mahesh Bhupathi and together they create a very good team. Bhupathi is an experienced customer and will love to have an Olympic medal to his long list of achievements and that just might be a good enough reason for Sania to get a wild card entry.
By Indian Sports News Network
