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Sania Mirza - Breaking New Ground
By: Anurag Bharti2003 marked an unprecedented year in the history of Indian tennis, and for once, the player`s name did not happen to be Bhupathi or Paes. For the first time ever, an Indian girl shone in the hallowed lawns of Wimbledon, the world`s most prestigious grand slam event in tennis. Partnering Alisha Kleybanova of Russia, young Sania Mirza became the first woman from India to win the Girl`s Doubles crown at Wimbledon.
By: Anurag Bharti
2003 marked an unprecedented year in the history of Indian tennis, and for once, the player’s name did not happen to be Bhupathi or Paes. For the first time ever, an Indian girl shone in the hallowed lawns of Wimbledon, the world’s most prestigious grand slam event in tennis. Partnering Alisha Kleybanova of Russia, young Sania Mirza became the first woman from India to win the Girl’s Doubles crown at Wimbledon. It was a moment of great pride for the nation, further boosted by Leander Paes’ triumph with Martina Navratilova in the Mixed Doubles category at the same event. But despite Paes’ commendable victory there was no doubt whatsoever, as to who had captured the heart of the country’s 1 billion population.
For several years now, India’s presence in the international tennis circuit revolved around the one-time top seeded duo of Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi. Year after year, it has been these two names alone, partnering various players to doubles success, that provided solace to the country of their origin. Whether Davis Cup, Olympics, Asian Games or any grand slam event, there was no other Indian, apart from the duo, to even come into reckoning, let alone win.
As for the women, there has barely been any Indian to write home about, prior to Mirza’s success. The first ray of hope glimmered when Rita Dawar finished runner-up in Junior Wimbledon. A slew of promising names followed Dawar, the likes of Aradhana Reddy, Aarthi Ponappa, Rushmi Chakrabarthi, but all failed to deliver. Eventually Nirupama Vaidyanathan was the one to herald Indian women’s entry into competitive tennis, when she beat Gloria Pizzichini in the Australian Open in 1998. The fact that she was the only Indian woman to ever win a grand slam match in the Open era, is more depressing than encouraging. However, now things are different.
2003 saw intermittent flashes of glory for India. Sania Mirza and Sanna Bhambri put in a commendable performance in the Federation Cup, following it up with the French Open at Roland Garros, where they got as far as the semi-final before being beaten. Come Wimbledon, and Mirza, ranked world No. 15 in juniors, had a new doubles partner, Alisa Kleybanova of Russia.
The Indo-Russian pair reached all the way to the finals where once again, they emerged triumphant against Katerina Bohmova of the Czech Republic and Michaela Krajicek of the Netherlands in the finals. At 2-6, 6-3,6-2, Mirza and Kleybanova became the winners of the Wimbledon trophy for Girls Doubles.
With her spectacular feat Mirza created history as the first Indian girl to win a grand slam title. She is also only the fourth Indian junior to win a Wimbledon title. The list dates back to 1954 when Ramanathan Krishnan became the first Indian junior to win Wimbledon. His son, Ramesh Krishnan, followed in his footsteps achieving the feat in 1979. The only other Indian was, not surprisingly, Leander Paes in 1990. The scenario now appears far more encouraging. A sizeable number of potential new talent is set to emulate Mirza’s success. The ball has been set rolling and upcomers like Ankita Bhambri, Isha Lakhani, Sonal Phadke and Shruti Dhawan are eager to prove that Mirza’s feat was anything but a fluke. For them, it’s a question of, “Mera number kab ayega?”
2003 marked an unprecedented year in the history of Indian tennis, and for once, the player’s name did not happen to be Bhupathi or Paes. For the first time ever, an Indian girl shone in the hallowed lawns of Wimbledon, the world’s most prestigious grand slam event in tennis. Partnering Alisha Kleybanova of Russia, young Sania Mirza became the first woman from India to win the Girl’s Doubles crown at Wimbledon. It was a moment of great pride for the nation, further boosted by Leander Paes’ triumph with Martina Navratilova in the Mixed Doubles category at the same event. But despite Paes’ commendable victory there was no doubt whatsoever, as to who had captured the heart of the country’s 1 billion population.
For several years now, India’s presence in the international tennis circuit revolved around the one-time top seeded duo of Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi. Year after year, it has been these two names alone, partnering various players to doubles success, that provided solace to the country of their origin. Whether Davis Cup, Olympics, Asian Games or any grand slam event, there was no other Indian, apart from the duo, to even come into reckoning, let alone win.
As for the women, there has barely been any Indian to write home about, prior to Mirza’s success. The first ray of hope glimmered when Rita Dawar finished runner-up in Junior Wimbledon. A slew of promising names followed Dawar, the likes of Aradhana Reddy, Aarthi Ponappa, Rushmi Chakrabarthi, but all failed to deliver. Eventually Nirupama Vaidyanathan was the one to herald Indian women’s entry into competitive tennis, when she beat Gloria Pizzichini in the Australian Open in 1998. The fact that she was the only Indian woman to ever win a grand slam match in the Open era, is more depressing than encouraging. However, now things are different.
2003 saw intermittent flashes of glory for India. Sania Mirza and Sanna Bhambri put in a commendable performance in the Federation Cup, following it up with the French Open at Roland Garros, where they got as far as the semi-final before being beaten. Come Wimbledon, and Mirza, ranked world No. 15 in juniors, had a new doubles partner, Alisa Kleybanova of Russia.
The Indo-Russian pair reached all the way to the finals where once again, they emerged triumphant against Katerina Bohmova of the Czech Republic and Michaela Krajicek of the Netherlands in the finals. At 2-6, 6-3,6-2, Mirza and Kleybanova became the winners of the Wimbledon trophy for Girls Doubles.
With her spectacular feat Mirza created history as the first Indian girl to win a grand slam title. She is also only the fourth Indian junior to win a Wimbledon title. The list dates back to 1954 when Ramanathan Krishnan became the first Indian junior to win Wimbledon. His son, Ramesh Krishnan, followed in his footsteps achieving the feat in 1979. The only other Indian was, not surprisingly, Leander Paes in 1990. The scenario now appears far more encouraging. A sizeable number of potential new talent is set to emulate Mirza’s success. The ball has been set rolling and upcomers like Ankita Bhambri, Isha Lakhani, Sonal Phadke and Shruti Dhawan are eager to prove that Mirza’s feat was anything but a fluke. For them, it’s a question of, “Mera number kab ayega?”
Chronology of Indian Winners at Grand Slam Events:
Juniors:
1954 Wimbledon - Ramnathan Krishnan
1979 Wimbledon - Ramesh Krishnan
1979 French Open - Ramesh Krishnan
1990 Wimbledon - Leander Paes
1991 US Open - Leander Paes
2003 Wimbledon Girls Mixed Doubles - Sania Mirza & Alisa Kleybanova
Men`s Doubles:
1999 French Open - Mahesh Bhupathi & Leander Paes
1999 Wimbledon - Mahesh Bhupathi & Leander Paes
2001 French Open - Mahesh Bhupathi & Leander Paes
2002 US Open - Mahesh Bhupathi & Max Mirnyi (Belarus)
Mixed Doubles:
1997 French Open - Mahesh Bhupathi & Rika Hiraki (Japan)
1999 US Open - Mahesh Bhupathi & Ai Sugiyama (Japan)
1999 Wimbledon - Leander Paes & Lisa Raymond (USA)
2002 Wimbledon - Mahesh Bhupathi & Elena Likhovtseva (Russia)
2003 Australian Open - Leander Paes & Martina Navratilova (USA)
2003 Wimbledon: Leander Paes & Martina Navratilova (USA)