Interview: Sania Mirza and the challenges of making a dream come true

What is it like to be a tennis player? The answer in a word is ‘painful.’ There is a 11-month season, there are injuries, there are heartbreaks, there are defeats but then there are also moments that banish all that hurt in one go. And in April 2015, Sania Mirza experienced one of those moments when she became the first female tennis player from India to achieve the world number one rank in doubles. [caption id=“attachment_2229304” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  File picture of Sania Mirza. PTI[/caption] It wasn’t unexpected – Sania had been racking up the wins but still it had the kind of ethereal quality to it; the kind of quality we usually associate with a dream. To be the best in the World at anything is incredible; to be the best requires more than just a dollop of luck. In a free-wheeling interview with Firstpost, Sania Mirza discusses the tennis life, her dreams and what it means to be World No.1. Excerpts How is Sania Mirza the doubles world No.1 different from the player that rose very quickly up the ranks in singles? Not very. I still work as hard. I turned pro in 2004 and it’s exactly the same. I try and be the best that I can. I am glad that No.1 is the best that I can be. I actually probably work harder than I used to because I am older and my recovery is worse. At what point did you start taking doubles seriously… dreaming of becoming world number 1? As soon as I stopped playing singles. When I was playing singles – even though I was always top 20 in doubles and top 30 in singles – I was playing a lot of doubles matches but singles was always a priority for me… which it always is for everyone… but at that point. And then when my body started giving in and stuff – which was around the middle of 2012. That was when I decided to reset my goals. You have won 7 doubles titles over the past year – what has suddenly clicked into place? Well, I won the five in the year before that in 2013. In 2014, won three. In 2015, I have won four already. It’s not been sudden. It takes time and it is something that I have being trying to do and am working on constantly. Every dream takes time so you just have to keep at it and someday it can come true. We have also seen the rise of women in India’s sporting scene. Saina Nehwal became No.1 and now you as well and these are just two instances. Do you think it is time India – as China has done in the past – starts focussing on women as well? I think that right now is probably the best time we have had in women’s sport. A. Because times have changed and there is a lot of support for women’s sport. We also have two world number ones in their respective sports. We also have Mary Kom who is a five-time boxing World Champion. So I think this is a great time because earlier we never really had stars in the athletic sense but we do now. And that is how things get popular. That is how cricket – which has so many stars – got so popular. So hopefully, this is the start of something for other sports in India too. This is how it may all begin. India seems to be establishing a legacy in doubles. What do you put that down to? Many say that it is possible only because the top singles players don’t play doubles regularly… your thoughts. For the men, perhaps you can say that. But I don’t think you can say that for the women. Everyone plays doubles whether it is the Williams or anyone else. Besides, I can speak for women’s doubles and say that everyone who was playing or is playing was a Top 20-30 singles player and I think that is why the women’s doubles is so much more of a complete in terms of a game. If you take the top 20 women’s doubles players you will find that at least 15 of them are still playing singles. And the other 5-6 of them have played singles at the highest level. How did you work on your fitness – anything as radical as climbing hills like Andre Agassi did? Yes, we all did. Not climbing hills but going up stadium stairs, doing hill workouts. It was very normal. Like I said that I work a lot harder now that I have been injured and driven to a point where my career was almost over. But I still need to watch out a little bit because I still have a condition that needs managing. I think we’ve all done that. Is being World No.1 in doubles consolation enough for not being able to play singles any more? I think when I made that decision, it was a tough one. But once I went ahead with it, like I said before I changed my goals and to be No.1 in the world at what I do is pretty amazing but I would have liked to have played singles a little bit more. Surely, I would have loved to but sometimes you have to be practical and accept you body and the things it is telling you. I’d rather be able to walk than have another five or so surgeries. I have already had three in 7-8 years. But it is not really a consolation. It is something I have achieved and I am very proud of it. Did you in your wildest dreams imagine that you will become world no.1 and has it changed your outlook when you step on to the court now… It was always a dream… yes. And that’s what dreams are – they are supposed to be wild. When we pick up tennis racquets we all want to become World No.1 but very, very few get there. So it’s not like if I was World No.2 my career would have been a failure but getting to No.1 is pretty amazing. And as far as my outlook goes, it has not changed much. You still have to be inspired, work just as hard and adjust your goals a little bit more. Finally, what was the best reaction that you received on becoming world no.1 Well, I came off the court and I had around 155 Whatsapp messages on one phone and around 60 more on the other. And then I was just trying to reply, actually I am still apologising to people for not replying to them but it was amazing. When I got back home, it was kind of a fairytale. It was kind of scripted because I was played the Fed Cup back home and after becoming World No.1 I was playing my first tournament back home and it was pretty amazing. The crowd came out in huge numbers and that to me was the most special reaction.