Indian tennis star Sania Mirza, who has been out of action due to an ankle injury, will be fit to make her debut at Roland Garros but she cautioned her fans of any huge expectations from the Grand Slam.
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"People should not expect me to win a French Open right after my ankle is healed," she said during a press conference in New Delhi on Saturday. "My only endeavour is to do better and better.
"I will try my best. I don't think that I will win the championship. My priority is to win the first round. There is a lot of expectations, and pressure too,""
Sania's father Imran Mirza, who accompanied her, informed that she will undergo an ankle scan on April 30.
"Dr K J Reddy would do the scan and if he permits she would spend one week in Itlay and from there she would move on to France to participate in a local tournament for practice before playing at the French Open," he said.
"The only option before me is rest. Otherwise, doctors have said that the injury will worsen leading to surgery which I don't want to happen," said Sania
The ankle injury has kept Sania out of the ongoing Fed Cup in New Delhi.
"Of course I do miss it but it is better to miss the Fed cup once and do it for next five years than getting injured and missing out rest of the tournaments. I have sprained my ankle atleast half a dozen times during my twelve years of tennis career. But the Indian girls (Rushmi Chakravarthy, Shikha Uberoi and Ankita Bhambri) have performed well. They have played wonderful tennis. They lost to China but that happens. In years to come there would be many more Sania's in Indian tennis," she said.
Sania also said she was in the process of hiring a foreign coach and had shortlisted a few for the job.
"We have shortlisted a few names. And we will decide one from the list," Sania said without divulging the names.
The 18-year-old player said the most important thing while having a coach was that she must get along well with the person.
"There is no point if the coach and player do not get along well, even if the coach is the best in the world."
While talking about her role model Steffi Graf, Sania said, " She is a great player and she has won a lot of tournaments. I think Steffi had a wonderful forehand. She had the instinct of a champion."
Ruling out the possibility of her joining either politics or walking on the ramp as a model in a fashion show, Sania showed glimpses of her temperament and aggression, while handling the questions relating to her relgion and tennis.
"If I am on the tennis court I do not leave the play and say that I am going to say prayers. If I miss the prayers at once I do the same in the evening and make up for that. This is known as Kaza," she said.
Sania recalled her meeting with Mrs Sonia Gandhi and said that the Congress president had congrulated her for her performance in the Australian Open and the Dubai Open.
"She said that the country is proud of me."
When asked where she'd want to be in the next five years, Sania said, " I do not know what would happen five years from now but I am aiming at to be in the first twenty five in the world ranking two years from now. I am 73 in the world now. I would have to work harder to get into that place but I guess I would have to do it," she said.
Sania has been doing a lot of commercial events recently and when asked whether they will affect her game, the teenager said she would never let endorsements get in way of her goals.
"I was wondering how come this question has not been asked so far. I am glad that finally it has been asked. I would like to tell you categorically that the day I feel that the endorsements have started interfering with my tennis then I would say goodbye to them."
She also dismissed the idea of living abroad to improve her game.
"I cannot think of leaving India. I hate the idea of getting up in the morning and preparing a cup of tea or coffee for myself. Here in India I have all the privileges. Why should I give them up?" she asked.
