Stay, Sania, and play

At a fancy dress party I attended at a playschool last year, there were 4-year-olds dressed as historical figures...

At a fancy dress party I attended at a playschool last year, there were 4-year-olds dressed as historical figures like Nehru and Mangal Pandey, and popular cartoon characters like Garfield and Shin Chan. There was one little girl in a short white skirt, a matching T-shirt, a headband and a dangling nose ring, clutching a tennis racquet. “I’m Sania Mirza,” she announced confidently. I can’t remember if she won a prize, but like her role model she certainly made an impact.

When I look back on being 21 like Mirza is right now, I have hazy memories of lurking around a college canteen sipping umpteen cups of tea and bunking classes to watch movies at a nearby cinema hall. Most of my friends did the same, just like college kids around the world. Then there are those rare exceptions like Mirza — gifted, confident and focused, who’s known since age 6 that her future is bound to tennis, and with remarkable single-mindedness has pursued her goal. Wow.

Mirza’s success in tennis has done more for the game in India than even what those two wonderful players,

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Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi, have achieved, simply because she’s a girl and India has woefully few female sport icons. She’s made tennis fashionable and viable, as any tennis coach will tell you. In the last 5 years since Mirza burst onto the pro circuit, enrolment of school children in tennis academies has shot up. Eventually, more Sanias will emerge from these places.

Right now though, Mirza seems desperate for a break. It’s ironic that when she’s playing her best tennis and is currently at Asia No.1, she’s being questioned on her attire and commitment to the country. She should be celebrating this huge milestone in her career. Instead she’s crumbling under criticisms that have nothing to do with her game. Her critics dismiss her decision not to participate in the Bangalore Open as a childish tantrum, claiming all celebrities have to handle the pressure that comes with stardom. Is it always so easy? She’s just a 21-year-old after all, who likes Brad Pitt and hip-hop music. Yet, once Mirza is able to see her situation with a cool head, she’ll also realise the best way to silence her critics will be to play. And win. Go for it, Sania.