The Hindu : Is Sania Mirza No. 1 in the world?

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Jul 11, 2003

Sport

Sport - Tennis

Is Sania Mirza No. 1 in the world?

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI JULY 10. It could have been a double delight for the Wimbledon girls' doubles champion Sania Mirza, but for a technical hitch.

The 16-year-old Hyderabadi girl, who has been overwhelmed by the reception back home from tennis enthusiasts and the media, could well have been ranked No. 1 in doubles in the world this week, but for a miscommunication between the organisers of The Championships and the International Tennis Federation (ITF).

Sania has been credited with 610 ranking points from her overall collection of 900 ITF points in doubles, and ranked No. 4 in the world behind Andrea Hlavackova of the Czech Republic (700), Kirsten Flipkens of Belgium (690) and Jarmila Gajdosova of the Slovak Republic (650).

The Indian teenager has 310 points from Group `A' tournaments, which are basically the Grand Slams.

For winning the Wimbledon doubles title, Sania has been awarded 180 ITF points, and denied a further 180 bonus points.

The reason given by the ITF is that the organisers reduced the size of the doubles draw from 32 to 16, without informing or consulting the ITF about it.

For the award of bonus points the grade `A' tournaments need to have a draw of 32.

Her French Open semifinal appearance, with Sanaa Bhambri, fetched 80 ITF points, and it was a modest 50 points for her quarterfinal entry, with Isha Lakhani, in the US Open last year. Hence, what Sania has been denied is indeed a huge chunk of points, though she may not be able to argue her case with the ITF.

However, the ITF juniors competition committee may review the decision in its next meeting, as per a communication from the ITF when a clarification was sought on the subject.

Kirsten Flipkens of Belgium, ranked No. 2 in doubles, was awarded 360 points for winning the US Open, and a revision of points for Sania will put her comfortably ahead of the rest.

For the time being, Sania has to be content with being No. 4 in the world in doubles. She is ranked No. 15 in singles with 540 points. The No. 1 in singles, Anna-Lena Gorenfeld of Germany has 1090 points, and is followed closely by Michaela Krajicek of the Netherlands with 1070 points.

Among the other Indian girls, Sanaa Bhambri is No. 20 in doubles and No. 51 in singles, Isha Lakhani is No. 60 in both singles and doubles, while Tara Iyer is No. 72 in singles and No. 132 in doubles.

Among the boys, Karan Rastogi and Somdev Dev Varman are ranked 13 and 16 respectively in doubles with 475 and 450 points, and have a modest ranking of 49 and 55 respectively in singles with 330 and 320 points.

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