Sania Mirza - General Discussion of tennis matters

atulra · Post by **atulra** » Tue May 24, 2005 1:13 pm

A bad loss, Certainly due to lack of Proper match practice,but no excuses.

forpar · Post by **forpar** » Tue May 24, 2005 1:17 pm

sad to see sania exit without a fight. Get healthy, practice hard and improve with every tournament.

Go Sania !

completelyconked · Post by **completelyconked** » Tue May 24, 2005 1:34 pm

The match was a lot closer than the score suggests if you check the stats.Sania did make Dulko fight really hard.Not a great quality clay court match.It was just a few points here and there that made the difference.The rust was very much in evidence in the first set, and her footwork was not as good as it usually is.Dulko's superior clay court experience and excellent movement was the difference.Sania didn't slide much, although thats understandable given her ankle.But Sania's groundstroke's were blistering!On any other surface Dulko would've been blown off the court, but the clay gave Dulko that little bit of time to stay in the points.She defended very well, and when sania found her rythm she forced Dulko on the backfoot in most points.Honestly, some of Sania's FH's and BH's looked positively unreturnable!I think when she played some great shots that Dulko managed to return Sania got a bit frustrated and went for too much.And one encouraging thing, was though Sania didn't serve that great(wasn't too bad either.Dulko was much worse IMO!) her serve has changed noticably.The ball toss was MUCH lower, and her elbow started a little higher than usual.Encouraging signs.Sania shouldn't feel discouraged.Dulko is a clay court specialist, and always had the upper hand.Sania didn't play too badly IMO.I think she can look forward to the grass-court season.With groundies like what i saw today, she can cause some real problems for almost anyone on the faster surfaces.She is incredibly powerful

!There is just NO TIME to react!Some great service returns too.But Sania has a lot to learn about clay court tennis.She didn't use enough variety.Its easy to see why Sharapova struggles too on clay.They both looked kind of similiar from what i saw today.Its all part of the learning curve though.We'll see better stuff from her in the future.Bring on Wimby!

completelyconked · Post by **completelyconked** » Tue May 24, 2005 1:46 pm

forpar wrote:sad to see sania exit without a fight. Get healthy, practice hard and improve with every tournament.

Go Sania !

Hey its not that she didn't fight.Dulko is just the better clay court player, and it showed.Sania did make her fight real hard in the second set.Everyone should stop acting like its the end of the world.There were a lot of encouraging signs i thought.But Sania was clearly a little rusty.She is capable of much better movement than what i saw today, and her court coverage and foot work were not as good as I have seen from her, but she still made life tough for Dulko.Clay is a really tough surface to make a comeback on, after an ankle injury.And sania got a real tough draw.Remember that Dulko has beaten even hantuchova and dementieva on clay.Sania is definitely not a great clay-courter though.

jaydeep · Post by **jaydeep** » Tue May 24, 2005 2:21 pm

Hopefully Sania's game will be more suited to grass and she able to produce same magic which she producing on hard courts.

Jaydeep.

completelyconked · Post by **completelyconked** » Tue May 24, 2005 2:46 pm

I think you are right Jay.Her groundies today really had me licking my lips in anticipation of the grass season,although she looked far from her best.The flat penetration she gets even on clay is really something.The forehand today was unreturnable at times even on clay,although dulko was right in position to recieve it.Tremendous power off both flanks.Even her serve will do more damage on grass.she needs a bit more than that on clay though.

jaydeep · Post by **jaydeep** » Tue May 24, 2005 2:48 pm

Yes completelyconked I m hoping on that ... But before that she must be injury free, so she can play her natural game without any worry.

Jaydeep.

jai_in_canada · Post by **jai_in_canada** » Tue May 24, 2005 4:25 pm

I think that Sania took a huge step forward today just by playing a match on a Grand Slam main stage.

To put this in perspective, it is incredibly difficult to come back from injury and expect to win against an opponent who is seasoned, uninjured, match tough and on her favorite surface. Look at what happened to Myskina - winner last year, first round loser this year. A lower extremity injury can really throw off rhythm, timing and consistency which are critical on clay.

Looks like the serve was the main difference. And BTW, let's not kid ourselves, it wasn't that close - 72 points to 58.

But it is all good as long as Sania is playing. Onwards to the grass court season!

nballa · Post by **nballa** » Tue May 24, 2005 4:40 pm

guys the sania mirza bubble has now burst.
for all the hype about her
this is a lesson for all the indians out there
'do not parade a girl who just made it to the thrd round of australian open in front of the rashtrapati bhavan'
i definitely dont see her making the top 50 in the next couple of years

a snippet from an indian newspaper 50 yrs frm now
"sania mirza undoubtedly the greatest tennis player india ever produced still remains the only indian female tennis player to reach the third round of a grandslam"

jokes apart here is the final conclusion 'mirza will never win a grandslam'. i have nothing against her. the problem is not with her it is with the indian government. as long as it continues to give mony,land,houses,awards to individuals who just win a bronze medal or a tennis match we will continue to produce one sportsperson per decade. it will only encourage sportspersons to play for the dough.

i just cannot stand making a hero/shero of someone who manages to win a couple of matches at majors. just shows to the world how hungry we are for international recognition.

so guys please show some sense. root for her but dont worship her.

insideout · Post by **insideout** » Tue May 24, 2005 4:52 pm

another stupid post....

Sandeep · Post by **Sandeep** » Tue May 24, 2005 4:54 pm

nballa your second post atleast makes sense. I appreciate your effort to improve your posts

On a seriou note, according to you who deserves cash prize from Indian government? What do you mean by just a bronzo medal? Do you have any Idea of what it takes to win a bronze medal at Olympics?

How do you think you develop a champion without giving him/her cash incentives? Moreover it is a mark of eappreciationand I do think cash incentives or whatever if used properly help you develop as a player.

so guys please show some sense. root for her but dont worship her.

By the way who is worshipping her. Don't assume things!!!

completelyconked · Post by **completelyconked** » Tue May 24, 2005 5:08 pm

When did we ever worship her dude??This forum is just about the only Sania forum, where ppl actually have the capacity to analyse her tennis and not fall flat for her looks and charisma.We have always said that all this hype was unnecessary,and a burden.Losing one match against a superior clay court player does not mean that she is finished.Whatever her recent results, the fact is, to anyone who knows a thing about tennis and who has seen her game it is obvious that she is a top-class player.She will only get better too.Don't forget that the clay season only lasts for 6 weeks.The rest of the year she is a very dangerous player.And should she stay injury free i definitely see her in the top 50 in the not- too distant future.And to india making a major and winning a couple of rounds is a BIG deal.You don't have any idea of the kind of struggles that our tennis players face,and how far behind the rest of the world we are.What she has achieved even now is remarkable.None of us ever said that she would win a GS.We are not going to fawn all over her as some people do.Its far too early to say, but mark my words, nothing that this girl does would surprise me.
I have to say that you are making a little more sense this time nballa.Your last post was just brainless.But i would suggest you watch a little more tennis, b/c it appears to me you really don't understand her game at all, and therefore you are not able to come up with any solid arguments.

vishnureddy · Post by **vishnureddy** » Tue May 24, 2005 5:36 pm

Guys just ignore that post. We are mature enough to know what is serious and what is flame-bait. I wouldn't have posted but there seems to be almost a page either trying to bash him or ridiculing his trash. It would be better if we just continue what we fans do i.e., discuss her game and results and leave that sort of work to the moderators.

jai_in_canada · Post by **jai_in_canada** » Tue May 24, 2005 5:41 pm

At the risk of incurring the wrath of others, I gotta say I agree to some extent with nballa's point about over hyping an up-and-comer before she has accomplished anything with consistency. His previous post was downright abusive - but if you want to make an unpopular view known, why not?

arjun2761 · Post by **arjun2761** » Tue May 24, 2005 6:05 pm

Don't agree with nballa's prognosis. Sania is already playing top 40 tennis and will get there very soon unless injuries come in the way (remember losing to a 30th ranked player on her favorite surface doesn't mean that Sania is not a top 40 or better player on Sania's better surfaces). How much further she will rise (or win a GS) will depend on her training and drive and remains to be seen.

With respect to over hyping, she is the least over hyped on this forum since she actually has top level (WTA level) achievements including GS success.