ATP World Tour Masters 1000/ WTA Indian Wells and Miami 2017

[S_K_S]

That's definitely taking a perception to the extreme. Don't think I haven't heard any reports of her being difficult with her partners. Changing partners is not necessarily her being difficult. One could argue she has been excellent at gauging the shelf life and moving on at the right moment.

[Atithee]

Samarth, yes, she is like a nomad. But, the pertinent point is what has all this moving produced? Anyway, mods, please move these posts to an appropriate Sania thread. They don't belong here. Thanks.

[PKBasu]

I disagree completely with this view about Sania. She is a spectacular doubles player, as I've seen on the two occasions that she totally dominated the WTA doubles finals with two separate partners -- Cara Black and Martina Hingis. Cara unfortunately decided to end that partnership, because she wanted to devote time to family/children. The Hingis partnership was a perfect complementarity, with Hingis dominating the net and Sania dominating the baseline. Hingis' serve was the main weakness (Sania's is better, and Hingis at the net made Sania's service games even stronger). I think Sania should have stayed with Hingis longer (for the whole of last year, but the weakness in the partnership was clear when they parted). The Strycova partnership has not really been much of a success, although they beat Hingis/partner in the early encounters.

[Prashant]

I don't know about the other partnerships, but I do remember reading that the one with Cara Black ended amicably for non tennis reasons, as PKB suggests above....

[gbelday]

Except for Vesnina, I didn't really read about anyone else complaining about Sania (after the relationship ended). All of them seemed to have ended amicably. Also, I don't think the partnership with Hingis was working towards the end.

And Atithee, why do you say "shamelessly milking"? What did she do so bad?

[Atithee]

Expected responses from expected people to an equally expected negative original post from a curmudgeon like me.

With that admission out of the way, I have no data to back my conjecture. It's just my thoughts after following Sania's career and unrelated interviews and their tones. I could be completely off. Some of it could be due to having a parent coach throughout her career.

As for her tennis skills, I already said that it's not her tennis, it's her personality that I am wondering about (based on her results or lack thereof).

As for shameless milking, just the way she talks about #1 in doubles as if it's #1 in singles and her overall persona she has portrayed throughout her career starting from fatwa days, etc. You know it as much as I do and may not feel the same way. I strongly feel that she has milked the AP and central government for far more than her exploits deserve. This includes land grant for her academy, appointment of her mother as traveling Coach/Manager for the Indian team, and other things like that.

I just voiced a thought. Some will agree, some will not, and some would be just meh. All are fine with me. It's just one possibility and food for thought.

[prasen9]

I would milk anything I can to get anything I can. I do not think she did anything underhanded or illegally. Trying to persuade people via PR is fine. The PM does that pretty well. As they say, substance does not matter as much as how you can sell it. I worked for a now-large company for five years. Grapevine was that the company's salespeople sold a product and then came to the software engineers asking whether they could write it. The engineers scrambled and the company stalled the customer a bit and then delivered. So, selling vaporware happens everywhere in all walks of life. Sania's over-selling her achievements is not that much. More power to her. Especially, if she can produce future champions a la Gopichand. [I understand their personalities and styles are different.] There are tons of people who are using their connections to seek this favor or another in India. [In Bengali, it is called "Nepoy mare' doi." Can't really translate the nuance.] I am fine with her milking her status. In India, we have never produced even a doubles #1. So, more power to her.

[Atithee]

Only 2-3 more "expected" responses missing now

[arjun2761]

Sania has been #1 and at the top of women's doubles for quite a while, so she is clearly a very good doubles player. She has some singles chops as well having reached the top 30 for a short time. She is head-and-shoulders above any Indian women before or since in her tennis achievements. Arguably, she is the greatest Indian women athlete ever in a global sport. She is also among the most recognizable Indian sportsperson outside some of the cricketers. Bottom line is she deserves the accolades in the Indian context.

As far as not being a really "nice" person, I suspect very few of the intensely competitive folks are that way although some may have a better veneer than others. As others have noted, some of the doubles breakups haven't been entirely her doing and it does not seem any more than what is common (i.e., partnerships dissolving after the sell-by-date of their shelf life) in the world of doubles - both among men and women.

[prasen9]

Only 1-2 more "expected" responses missing now

[Atithee]

[gbelday]

Uh oh, I am getting predictable. Getting money out of Indian politicians is no joke We normally complain if our players can't get sponsors (Yuki etc.). This is a case where we are complaining when one of our players is smart enough to raise what she needs.

[jaydeep]

The draw is out for Miami open ... Rohan-Pablo r facing Aussie wildcard in the first round.

At $6.9M Miami Open 2017, Florida, USA

[R1] Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Pablo Cuevas (URU) vs (WC) Nick Kyrgios (AUS)/ Matt Reid (AUS)

[jaydeep]

Sania and Barbora are in top draw and facing little unknown pair in the first round.

At $6.9M Miami Open 2017, Florida, USA

[R1] (3) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Barbora Strycova (CZE) vs Demi Schuurs (NED)/ Renata Voracova (CZE)

[Varma]

The draw is out for Miami open ... Rohan-Pablo r facing Aussie wildcard in the first round.

At $6.9M Miami Open 2017, Florida, USA

[R1] Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Pablo Cuevas (URU) vs (WC) Nick Kyrgios (AUS)/ Matt Reid (AUS)

Tough draw for Bops & Cuevas. If they come up trumps in R1 (which is in no way a given), they will most likely have to cross swords with Bryan Brothers. Next up could be Isner/Johnson or Lopez/Lopez. Quite an uphill task!

- Varma