NEW DELHI – Injured tennis star Sania Mirza says it will take her at leasttwo more months to get battle ready and what frustrates her most during therehab period is not the physical pain but the compulsory rest.
Sania, winner of six Grand Slam titles, is out of action since October 2017due to an injury in her right knee, forcing her to miss first Grand Slam ofthe season. “(It will take) a couple of more months. I don’t want to getinto technicalities of it but even if there was a surgery there is noguarantee that it is going to get better. It’s basically pain that I needto manage,” Sania said before kicking off tennis activities at SupertechSports Village. “It got out of hand so I had to take time off. I could nottake pain killers anymore. It is getting better. It’s frustrating becauseyou have to rest and do rehab.”
The 31-year-old Hyderabadi was asked what was the most challenging partduring the rehabilitation period. “Toughest thing is the mental part. Likeit was difficult to watch Australian Open and not play. As an athlete whenyou are forced to do something, it’s difficult to accept. When you retireby choice, it’s different. But it’s not first time that I am injured. Ihave had three surgeries before. As an athlete, I am used to that. It’smental more than the physical pain,” she shared her frustration.
Sania, whose ranking has dipped to 14, is confident that missing out ontennis for about four months won’t impact her adversely. “I turned Pro in2003. It’s a very demanding life away from family and loved ones in a hotelroom. I had a pretty long career. Do I think that these four months aregoing to make a difference in my career? No, in larger perspective. I haveto take positives out of it,” she said.
Reflecting upon her 2017 season, during which she managed to win just oneWTA title, compared to eight in 2016 and 10 in 2015, Sania rated it as adecent one. “As an athlete we are always greedy. When we win 10, we want towin the 11th (title)and whew we win one, we want to win three. When hungeris not there, you know it’s time to retire. I still finished in top-10, itwas a decent year. 2017 was a solid year but it can get better,” Sania said.
Talking about the upcoming Fed Cup, beginning Wednesday at DLTA, Sania saidIndian team has a tough task ahead. “I will retire one day, they should getuse to it a little bit (laughs). It’s going to be tough matches as always.It will be a great experience for them, they are all young.”
Asked if she sees herself playing the 2018 Asian Games in Indonesia, shewas non-committal. “The first Asian Games I played was in 2002 when I was15. It’s been really long, I would like to play another one if I can andwin more medals. I have come back with medals every time I played. So itwould be pretty amazing, but I can’t look that far ahead, want to focus onmy recovery.”
On a philosophical note, Sania said playing a sport helps in becoming abetter human being. “Sports is not just about becoming a champion. It’sabout learning way of life. Sport is about accepting defeat and handlingvictories. Just because I have a tennis academy back home and there is anacademy here, that does not guarantee we are going to have world champions.But what you can guarantee is to be a better human being, sport teaches youthat.”
Sania also emphasised that for India to become a sporting a sports cultureis required, where more and more people are playing. “Become a sportingnation, does not mean how many champions you have, it means how many peopleare playing a sport. When you go to Australia or America, every kid thereplays whatever it is, baseball or football. Because they have so many innumbers playing, they have so many champions. It has got a lot better (inIndia) in the last few years.” – PTI