The Hindu : Sport / Tennis : Sania hopes to make top 20 in 2008

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Thursday, Nov 15, 2007
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Sania hopes to make top 20 in 2008

Chennai: Out of action due to a stomach injury, Sania Mirza hopes to improve her performance in the 2008 season and make the top 20 of the WTA rankings.

“I am playing my best and will strive to achieve a ranking of 20 before the end of the 2008 season,” Sania said at promotional event here on Wednesday.

The 32-ranked player tried to avoid questions on the issue of match-fixing in the men’s circuit saying, “it does not happen in the women’s circuit to my knowledge. I have not experienced any such instances. If it is happening on the ATP circuit, it is not good for the game. I am not that experienced to make any comment on such things.”

On Justine Henin’s domination on the WTA circuit, Sania said, “Henin is a lady Federer. She is what Federer (Roger) is on the men’s circuit. She is a terror for all players and she wins whatever tournament that she competes in.”

Her injuries

On her injuries Sania said, “My knee injury was a freak accident. It hurts only when I serve. Every athlete in the circuit suffers from such niggling injuries. It cannot be avoided when you are playing at that level but sometimes injuries also help you to do better since you have to work harder to strive for positive results.”

Sania, who did not have a personal coach for most part of the year, said she was keeping her options open on hiring a permanent coach.

“At this point of time, I have not decided to have a coach. I am keeping my options open amongst three people. I have not zeroed in on any one particularly. I will disclose, if I decided to have one, at the appropriate time,” she said, adding frequent changes in coaches did not distract her play.

“I play both singles and doubles. Singles is my focus. I cannot help but have different partners in doubles. I have played with different partners this year and have been comfortable with each one of them,” she said. — PTI

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