Mumbai: It will be the second consecutive yearend when Sania Mirza will finish as the no. 1 women’s doubles player and the Hyderbadi tennis ace is happy to remain at the top. The 30-year-old is also conscious of the fact that she can’t be there for eternity and is not taking any extra pressure to stay there for long.
“It was an unbelievable year for me, to finish at no. 1 again, to win eight tournaments, to win a grand slam, to be in the final of another. I can’t ask for a better year,” Sania said at the sidelines of an event here on Tuesday.
Sania wants to add another Grand Slam next year and will look to complete the career slam in the women’s doubles by winning the elusive French Open.
“If that does happen (winning French open) that would be amazing, I won’t kill myself. And it’s the Wimbledon mixed doubles that I am missing, but I would love to win any Grand Slam. It would be amazing for me to have three back-to-back years with at-least one slam. So that would be my goal really and everything else follows,” she said.
“I had to work harder this year than last year because everybody is gunning for you in every tournament you go to. Every time you lose in the finals it is treated as if you have not succeeded, which is fair enough,” Sania added.
Sania has been training at the MSLTA here for four days and is slated to leave for Brisbane next week for her first tournament, where she will partner Bethanie Mattek-Sands of the United States as her long-term partner Barbara Strycova will be playing in Auckland around same time. But Sania made it clear she will partner with Barbara in the Grand Slams starting with the Australian Open where she will bid to defend the title.
“It was because of my spilt with Martina (Hingis) that happened, it was a sudden split for everybody as well and also us and we didn’t really have anyone and Barbara happened to be looking at that point and it just worked out really well. We have played juniors together, we have known each other since we were 14-years old,” she said.
“I was lucky enough to find someone who I found instant success with and we happen to win one of the biggest tournaments of the year right after we split next week in Cincinnati.
“It’s about finding that tuning; I have been (with) partners who have not felt comfortable. This is a professional tour, we are playing, everybody wants to win and when it doesn’t work out, it doesn’t work out and you move on,” she added.
