India's Racquet Queens Rule The World
One has lost her world No. 1 ranking after being at the top spot for only a week while the other is just two wins away from becoming the world No. 1. And while the rankings are going to move up and down in the weeks to come, you can't take away anything from Saina Nehwal and Sania Mirza's success in their respective sports at the highest level.
Saina Nehwal's stay at the top of the badminton world rankings lasted all of one week. In fact, had Saina not pulled out of this week's Singapore Open Super Series, the World No. 1 ranking would've been hers again, given the fact that Li Xuerui and Carolina, the two other players in contention for the top spot had pulled out already.
But Saina is anything but mourning about the situation. "No. 1 is No. 1, nobody can take that away from me, doesn't matter what the duration is", Saina told NDTV after winning the India Open Super Series. In fact, the 25 year old sacrificed the chance to get back to No. 1 by withdrawing from the Singapore Open herself.
Saina doesn't want to overburden and tire herself out with tournaments. Hence the pick and choose approach, which is sensible and practical in the larger scheme of things. "There will be many more chances to become World No. 1, I know that. And I am confident of giving better results", says Saina oozing with confidence.
And why shouldn't she? Very few would've given a non-Chinese player the chance to be at the top of the world rankings. "I don't think we should take any credit away from her because the playing field in a certain tournament was weak, or because she was World No. 1 just for a week. She is physically in a great state now, and mentally very strong too. She is pretty much unstoppable," former national champion and Olympian Aparna Popat told NDTV.
Ask any of Saina's teammates how the rest of the players in the circuit react to her second wind, and you'll know there's no reason at all to sweat over rankings. "The Chinese are scared of her, I can tell you that much. Yes, they have their injuries and are not so dominating now. But I can tell you that they all respect Saina very much,", says India's singles player HS Prannoy.
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But that World No. 1 tag is a goal all driven athletes have. And when they're very close to that, it's very difficult to not think about achieving it. Saina's fellow Hyderabadi, Sania Mirza is in a somewhat similar situation.
Already at No. 3, her career best ranking in doubles (individual), the Hyderabadi Hurricane is now only two wins away from becoming the World No. 1. "I'd be lying if I said I wasn't thinking of the No. 1 ranking. Obviously the calculations have been done. We're playing in Charleston this week with the No. 1 ranking in mind," said Sania ahead of the tournament.
With two wins from as many tournaments, Sania's partnership with Martina Hingis already turning out to be a successful. The two dropped a set for the first time, as they made it to the quarter finals of the Family Circle Cup where they are the top seeds.
Just 145 points separate Sania from the World's No. players Sara Errani and Roberta Vinci. While the Italians are on 7640 points, the Hyderabadi Hurricane is on 7495 points. In fact, the Indo-Swiss duo have a great chance to become the World No. 1 pair as well. They are 115 points away from the current top ranked duo of Elena Vesnina and Ekaterina Makarova.
The permutation combination can be slightly confusing for the layman or even for the avid tennis follower. But Team Sania has the numbers at its fingertips, the calculations are being done meticulously for a while now, with that single aim of giving Sania yet another first in Indian tennis, that of becoming the first Indian woman to become the World No. 1.
And while some maybe critical of Sania for not having achieved enough in singles, the fact is that there was none before her, and (worryingly enough) there is none after her. Needless to say, the decision to switch to doubles full time was a masterstroke.
A winner of 3 Grand Slams (all in Mixed Doubles), 25 WTA titles (24 of which have come in doubles), multiple Asiad and Commonwealth Games medal, and even a year ending title which many players like to call the fifth Grand Slam, Sania's is one hell of an impressive resume. And the stakes this week are no less higher.
"I've been fortunate to find success in a game that I adore. Some day if I achieve the No. 1 ranking, my cup of joy will be absolutely full," she said.