Table Of ContentAce against Odds
S M
ANIA IRZA
with
I M S G
MRAN IRZA AND HIVANI UPTA
CONTENTS
Foreword by Martina Hingis
Introduction by Mahesh Bhupathi
Prologue
1. The First Miss of My Life
2. Early Lessons
3. Getting a Grip
4. The First Breakthrough
5. An Unforgettable Experience
6. Junior ‘High’
7. The African Safari
8. Playing for India
9. First Brush with Stardom
10. The Gold Rush and Beyond
11. Of Coaches and Critics
12. My Grand Slam Debut
13. Champion at Home
14. Learning New Responsibilities
15. The Best Match of My Life
16. At the US Open, 2005
17. With Fame Comes Controversy
18. My Second Year on the Circuit – 2006
19. Meeting Martina Hingis
20. The Hopman Cup Adventure
21. Double the Fun!
22. The Charminar Controversy
23. To the Brink and Back
24. Bangkok to Bengaluru
25. Olympic Dreams
26. My First Grand Slam Title
27. Heartbreak Time
28. Finding Love
29. CWG and Asian Games 2010
30. Striking Form Again
31. Goodbye to Singles
32. Starring at Roland Garros
33. The London Drama
34. The Doubles Mission
35. A Mixed Season
36. The Road to No. 1
37. On Top of the World
38. Wimbledon Champions!
39. Flying High
40. A Blessed Life
Photographic Inserts
About the Book
About the Authors
Copyright
FOREWORD
A dust storm raged through the city of Doha in February 2015, Sania and I
S A SEVERE
practised together for the first time, and the memory is still fresh in my mind as
though it was just yesterday. The session turned out to be disastrous and entirely
forgettable. We were both so bad in that practice.
But I want to take you back to the first serious two-hour long conversation
that Sania and I had a few days before we practised in Doha. In the course of our
talk, I found myself inspired by Sania’s intense desire to succeed. She seemed so
determined to win, it was almost scary, even though most of the time we didn’t
even discuss our doubles game or what we wanted to achieve.
That evening, we talked about the singles match in which we played each
other for the first time, in Dubai. I had heard about this young Indian girl who
had beaten Svetlana Kuznetsova – the reigning US Open champion at the time
(2005). So, the following year, after I had made my comeback, when I was
drawn to play against this young, feisty Indian competitor named Sania Mirza, I
took the duel very seriously. And for good reason. She possessed a deadly
forehand which I tried to stay away from as far as possible. I won that match
against her in Dubai, but over the years we ended up with an even 2-2 head-to-
head lifetime singles record. I beat Sania in Dubai and Kolkata and she defeated
me in Seoul and Los Angeles.
I am mentioning all this because we still see ourselves very much as singles
players. The technique and strategy in tennis keeps changing, and in today’s
doubles, it is the all-round game that works best. Sania and I have been able to
dominate only because we are able to hold our ground from the baseline and at
the net against the current top-ranked players – singles or doubles. This is also
where strategy and some thinking come in handy. I think we also score over our
opponents with our temperament as we both love to embrace pressure situations.
On many occasions it comes down to two or three crucial points in a match
where you need nerves of steel. The 2015 Wimbledon final was a perfect
example of what we can achieve under pressure: at one stage we looked entirely
down and out!
Let me try to explain our ‘phenomenon’ Sania, whose tennis I think is
magical, almost mystical. It is a fact that for a long time she has been one of the
best doubles players in the world. It is also a fact that she has the best forehand
out of three billion women on this planet!
As for me, I started playing doubles when I couldn’t even see over the net
and the racket bag was taller than me. I had to earn my spot to play with my best
friend at the time. If I missed even a single ball, she would never play with me
again – and that was pressure! Also, it was a simple education. For I wanted to
play with the older kids like my life depended on it.
It was only logical then that I chose tall, powerful partners throughout my
career. Like Sania. She has a merciless forehand and her well-placed serve starts
us perfectly in each point. And this is not everything. She creates angles on
returns that do not exist. Where other people would break their bones, she
calmly produces winners with an incredible flick of the wrist.
As a team, we have come a long way since we had our first hit together in
Doha. Neither of us is a practice champion, although I tried really hard because
expectations were high. The one thing we had in common from the start was the
belief in our abilities when it mattered. We both grow with the momentum and
rise to the occasion under pressure. That is a gift and only champions are blessed
with it. Sania surely has it.
Our partnership seems to have been made in heaven and maybe it was
destiny that brought us together. We take a lot of pride in each other’s
achievements and when Sania became World No. 1 in Charleston for the first
time, I was as excited as she was.
We continue to improve and make each other better every day. On a given
day you may see one of us not at her best, but you will rarely find both of us not
playing well. We are able to overturn impossible situations because of the
immense trust we have in each other. Sania’s positive energy and great attitude
are gigantic contributions in every match.
I am happy and honoured to call her my partner and a friend for life.
M H
ARTINA INGIS
INTRODUCTION
E a while, the universe throws up an anomaly in the context of Indian
VERY ONCE IN
sport. In my opinion, to call Sania an anomaly is an understatement. I won’t go
into all the reasons why I believe so, as most of you already know them and
that’s why you are reading this book.
I have known Sania for close to fifteen years now and besides being a close
friend of hers, I have been lucky enough to share the tennis court with her,
resulting in a couple of Grand Slam titles for both of us.
When I was asked to write the introduction to her autobiography, I knew it
would be a challenge, to encapsulate a fifteen-year relationship inclusive of all
kinds of emotions.
When I first met Sania she was about fourteen years old. I hadn’t interacted
with her much but had heard from my dad that she had enough talent and
firepower for us tennis lovers to be excited about. So we signed her up to help
manage her career. Very soon, she translated that firepower into a Junior
Wimbledon title as a baby-faced sixteen-year-old. This win was a first for Indian
tennis, it galvanised both the sports fraternity in India and the tennis world
globally. Here was a girl from a third-world country, well spoken, good-looking,
and from a community that had almost never encouraged girls to take to sport.
She had the perfect mix to become a star as long as she delivered results on the
tennis court.
Two years later, Sania made her breakthrough in the women’s game with a
run at the Australian Open, and since then she has had a remarkable career. She
has been, and continues to be, the face of some of the biggest brands in the
country. She started off as the lone Indian competing in the singles of the Grand
Slams and continuously won rounds and pushed the contenders, until today, she
sits on top of the women’s doubles rankings comfortably, even threatening to fly
past my Grand Slam tally in the near future.
To be singled out as special in life, one has to go through trials and
tribulations. Sania has had more than her fair share, whether it was the fatwa
against her, the surgeries she had to undergo, the constant public scrutiny of her
personal life or just random folks asking why she had to play tennis wearing a
skirt. She has always faced adversity with the same principles her life is built
upon – single-minded focus, self-belief and self-respect. I believe she has been
instrumental in changing the face of Indian sport, especially where women are
concerned. Time will surely prove that. But in the meantime, we need to applaud
how comprehensively she has made her mark in arguably the most popular
individual sport in the world and the manner in which she continues to be India’s
ambassador on the global stage.
Enjoy the book!
M B
AHESH HUPATHI
PROLOGUE
M heavy, my arms were numb. I could see the blurry tennis ball as it
Y LEGS FELT
crossed the net and hit the surface of the court.
Fault. Just missed the line.
A few seconds more and the match was over, the tournament done and
dusted. Casey Dellacqua had just served a double fault and I had won the biggest
prize of my tennis career. The victory signalled my elevation as the ‘numero
uno’ women’s doubles player in the world – the culmination of a cherished
dream!
As the chair umpire called ‘game, set and match’, my partner Martina
Hingis ran towards me with a radiant smile, her right forefinger up in the ‘No. 1’
sign, and hugged me. That was when she revealed to me that it was here in this
same tournament in 1997 that she had become the No. 1 player in the world for
the first time – the youngest ever to have achieved that distinction.
The story of my entire career flashed before me as I struggled to come to
terms with the seemingly unreal landmark I had just reached. Everything from
depressing injuries and surgeries, to waking up early in the mornings, taking
autorickshaw rides to reach the court, practising eight hours a day, getting
massages and treatments for the nagging pains in my body, the sheer thrill of
winning and the utter disappointment of losing – all these images flashed before
my eyes. It was like a mini-movie playing out in front of me.
As I sat on a chair, waiting for the prize distribution ceremony to start, I
barely had a few minutes to collect my thoughts. There was a complete sense of
satisfaction, a kind of jubilation I had never felt before. It was a feeling that can
never be matched or accurately described, no matter how often I continue to win.
To have finally achieved the dream harboured for two decades was incredible. It
felt surreal to be one of those lucky few who get to the mark they set for
themselves as children. The odds had been stacked literally one in a billion
against me. So much had to fall into place.
