The scoreline never lies but sometimes it can tell only half the truth. And even before the thwack of the supercharged forehands — and the grunts from one half of the court — had stopped ringing in the ears, the other half of the truth in the 6-2, 6-1 scoreline emerged: Sania Mirza did good.With a tennis brain, two good arms and a heart that would put some of our cricketers to shame, she had Maria Sharapova rattled. Only for a while, before the top seed showed just why she’s top seed, but rattled nonetheless.Her backhands were angled fine, her forehands precise and powerful. Radiating confidence, she made Sharapova run round the back of the court. She bridged the gulf of talent and experience between them with her willingness to attack, taking the game to her opponent.Then her weaknesses got the better of her and Sharapova made short shrift of what remained.What remains now is a long, hard battle for Sania through the rest of her career to live up to the talent, deliver on the promise she has displayed this past week. It’s been a great ride for her, and it will always be fun because she seems the sort who really enjoys her game, but it will be deadly serious.She’s just raised the bar for herself. No longer will her fellow professionals dismiss her as a girl from India. The world of Top 30 tennis, the top flight of any sport, breeds a ruthlessness of Darwinian proportions. She will be looked upon as points for the tour kitty, a prize scalp for the many now ranked lower than her. In effect, what Jelena Kostanic — then ranked 36 — was to her in the Dubai Open, when she was 97 and won the encounter, she will be to current 97 Ekaterina Bychkova.The pressure will be intense.She’ll also have to fight off the suits. The US Open made one realise that marketing is everything in international sport, else Sania could never have got all four matches in the three showpiece courts, all at Indian primetime. There will be a lot of money, a lot of opportunities, headed her way; she’ll have to know when to say yes and when no.It’s been a great ride for us, too, sitting in our homes, but there is as much a need for us to wake up and smell the coffee. We need to stop seeing Sania as a novelty, as a fresh-faced teenager from Hyderabad who can be excused her high number of unforced errors because, hey, she’s made it to the Big Time.Maria Sharapova is younger than her, hails from Siberia and lived in a cardboard box when she first arrived in the US. She hasn’t got where she has by resting on her looks, laurels or life story.We need to understand that Sania will rise and fall in the rankings, she will win some and lose some, and that things will balance over a period of time.And if you really want to root for Sania, why don’t you stop by the next time there’s a tennis tournament in your city?
