Mahesh Bhupati: Let’s leave Sania alone

THIS IS what Indian tennis player, Sania Mirza’s doubles partner, Mahesh Bhupati had to say about her after the recent tricolour row triggered off in Perth, Australia. “At the end of the day, she is a 21-year-old girl trying to do her best.” And I couldn’t agree more.

Sania Mirza is the person who is responsible for earning a mention of India in women’s tennis for the first time ever. She is the first Indian in history to win a WTA (Women’s Tennis Association) singles title the Hyderabad Open as an 18-year-old when she was ranked 134 in the world. She has moved on, through many controversies, to become world number 28 in WTA singles and number 18 in WTA doubles rankings, the highest for any Indian.

She has the distinction of being the first Indian woman ever be seeded in a Grand Slam tennis tournament – the US Open 2007, where she was seeded 26. At the Australian open in January 2005, she became the first Indian woman to reach the third round of a Grand Slam. Breaking her own record, in the same year, she reached the fourth round of a Grand Slam at the US Open.

In 2003, teaming up with Alisa Kleybanova, Sania won the girls’ doubles title in the Wimbledon Championships.

In 2006, Sania also enjoyed wins over three top 10 players of the world—Svetlana Kuznetsova, Nadia Petrova and Martina Hingis.

Sania has also proved her mettle at the Doha Asian Games in 2006, winning silver in the women’s singles category and a gold in the mixed doubles with partner, Leander Paes. In the team event Sania and her team won silver at Doha.

Along with major controversies, Sania also experienced her best season so far in 2007. She reached the third round of the US Open women’s singles and the quarterfinals of both the mixed and the women’s doubles at the same event.

At the Pilot Pen Tennis tournament, she won another doubles title of her career. In the East West Bank Classic, she beat former world number one Martina Hingis for the second time in a row. She also reached the quarterfinals of the Acura Classic and played in the third final of her career at the Bank of West Classic, where she also won the doubles title with Shahar Pe’er.

It may be noted that in 2006, Sania had refused to team up with Pe’er, who is from Israel, at the Bangalore open for fear of violent protests by the radical Islamic community in the country that is opposed to the existence of Israel. Earlier, the two friends were also prevented from pairing up in the Australian Open.

This is not the first time that she has come under attack from the Muslim fundamentalists. In the past, it was her short skirts and sleeveless blouses that were an eyesore for the Ulema in Hyderabad, which issued a fatwa against her. They said that she was a corrupt influence on the young Muslim women because her dress was un-Islamic. Following this, she was also threatened by an Islamist group Jamiat-ulema-e-Hind in Kolkata, which led to her security being tightened during her stay there.

Sania is also not secure at her interviews and talk shows. In November 2005, her comments on safe sex at a TV chat show were twisted and it was made apparent that she was a supporter of premarital sex. Sania had to publicly state that she would never justify premarital sex and said that she realised that it was “a very big sin in Islam.”

More recently, Sania was in the news due to another controversy, of her shooting for an ad film in the Mecca Masjid in Hyderabad. The Muslim scholars of the Darul Uloom, an Islamic seminary in Deoband, had condemned this shoot. This seminary, the largest in the world after Cairo’s Al-Azhar University, promotes the extremist Sunni ideology known as Deobandi. The Taliban’s leaders were schooled in Deobandi madrassas in Pakistan, particularly the Haqqania.

Deobandi teachings regard women as inferior to men, and promote the notion that girls should not be educated after the age of eight. The Deobandi clerics said that shooting and photography of any kind in a mosque is un-Islamic.

A police complaint was filed alleging that she and her camera crew entered the premises without permission. For this Sania had to apologise through e-mail and through newspapers all over the nation. But then there was another tricolour controversy. At the Hopman Cup in Perth, a week ago, she was photographed with her bare feet near the tricolor and accused of gravely disrespecting it. Like all other controversies, this one also appears to be fishy because the angle of the shot seems to distort the proximity between the flag and her feet. Organiser of the event, Paul McNamee claims that Sania was actually sitting much behind the flag and that her feet were resting in that position to prevent cramping.

According to Bhupati, Sania was very upset following this charge. It has forced her to rethink her future and the possibility of making it big in tennis. Such distractions are undoubtedly hindering her focus and preparation for the Australian Open. “It is affecting her form. It is affecting her mentally,” said Mahesh Bhupati.

All India Tennis Association chief Anil Khanna also appealed that Sania should not be dragged into issues like these. “Sania needs to be left alone,” he said. He pointed out that this was a very important year for her and such things were weighing heavily on her mind.

Sania deserves peace and support from the media after all that she has achieved. Her critics have always said that reaching the third and fourth round of a Grand Slam is hardly anything to be proud of. But in the history of women’s tennis, where there was no sign of an Indian, Sania carved a niche for herself. As a newcomer, she faced great players like Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova. She earned for herself and India, a mention in news all over the world and even charmed some of them.

As the Guardian said after the Wimbledon, “Magical Mirza: the centre of attention. It was often hard to believe that Sania Mirza was really the loser yesterday,” the paper said referring to her loss to Svetlana Kuznetsova. It adds, “Centre court will want to see more of the tempestuous teenager breaking the mould of the traditional Indian woman as well as records every time she steps on a court.” Rave reviews about the teenager’s performance also appeared in Britain’s tabloid press.

She has made the countrymen sit up and take notice of a sport other that cricket. It should be the duty of every Indian to encourage her and not lunge at every opportunity to pull her down. Let’s give her a chance; let’s leave her alone for sometime.

In less than four years, she has climbed to the top thirty from somewhere near 400. Who knows, this silent cheering up by us may take her to unprecedented heights and she may win for herself a place in the top ten tennis players of the world by the end of this year itself.