Sania Mirza can lay claim to having rubbed shoulders with tennis’ elite fraternity throughout her career. Her ability to absorb whatever is thrown at her on the tennis courts has been proved by the few prominent upsets she has caused, but the other part of her life has a completely different story to tell. Not so adept at dodging controversies and the occasional tricky volleys, the Indian star opted for a complete break from playing at home yesterday, and will not play at next month’s Bangalore Open with a view to avoiding the ‘problems’ of playing at home.Leander Paes, who has become used to carrying the weight of a country’s Davis Cup fortunes on his shoulders for a considerable amount of time now, has never been far from the spotlight himself. For him, such attention is part of every celebrity’s life, and says one has to know how to handle it correctly. “Not just in sports. If you look at any field, celebrities will always have to deal with this kind of attention. It’s all about how you handle it. And what is important is how dignified and honest you are with it.“I’m not bothered, I don’t want to get into it right now. But it is the greatest joy to play for your country, and that should not be forgotten. That’s what Sania has to be careful about. It’s not your country that will put you down. No athlete is bigger than the game, or the country,” said Paes, at the end of the Indian Davis Cup team’s practice session here today. Naresh Kumar was captain of the Davis Cup team at a time when the celebrity glare was not quite as blinding, but he believes a little more thought was in order before such a drastic decision. “This decision taken by Sania will affect the game much more than the controversies, and it will lead to further controversy,” he said.“It isn’t as if not playing will avoid all future disputes. Everybody has problems, but you just have to deal with them. However, I don’t think this is setting a bad precedent, because we will not see a player of her calibre for sometime,” said Naresh Kumar, who played eight years of Davis Cup.
