Birthday girl Sania aims for top of Tennis World

NEW DELHI—India’s teenage tennis star Sania Mirza celebrated her 19th birthday on Tuesday with a pledge to continue the hard work that has resulted in a meteoric rise through the world rankings this year.
“I am delighted that I have achieved more than what I dreamt of. I hope things will continue to improve,” said Mirza, who has climbed from the 206th spot at the start of the year to her current ranking of 31.
“It gives me a chance to achieve my lifetime goal of being out there at the top. I have not set any targets for the forthcoming year. I just wanted to break into the top 50 by this year-end”.
Asked how she will celebrate her birthday, Mirza said: “It is my birthday. Let me celebrate it the way I love to”.
Media reports said Mirza was spending the day with her parents, Imran and Naseema Mirza, kid sister Anam and close friends in her home city of Hyderabad.
She said the best birthday gift was the news that Australian legend Tony Roche had agreed to a 14-day training stint with her ahead of next year’s Australian Open.
“I am really excited about that,” she said. “Roche will work on my serve, the weakest link in my game. He is the best in the business. That is why we picked him”.
Mirza has set up a full-fledged gymnasium in her home to “take physical conditioning more seriously”.
Till the teen sensation burst onto the international scene, Indians rarely looked beyond their obsession with cricket, but tennis — and Mirza — have quickly transfixed the country.
Sponsors, attracted as much by Mirza’s good looks as her powerful strokes on court, have flooded her with the kind of offers usually reserved for top cricketers.
Her face smiles from billboards around the country, endorsing a range of products from jewellery to petrol, designer sports gear to cycles.
Mirza was ranked second behind cricketer Sachin Tendulkar in a recent magazine poll on India’s youth icons, but her short skirts on court have also earned her scorn from Muslim clerics.—APP