Not Thinking About Olympics Right Now, Says Sania Mirza
Sania Mirza insists that she is currently concentrating on winning more titles and hasn't given a thought about partnering Leander Paes for Rio Olympics.
World number one doubles tennis ace Sania Mirza said she's not thinking about partnering Leadner Paes for the Olympics, which is more than six months away. (Sania Mirza-Mahesh Bhupathi Beat Leander Paes-Martina Navratilova in Tennis Masters)
"For me, it's still six seven months away. I'm not really thinking about it back of my head as of now. Will take a call closer to the Olympics. The best team should be put forward. In five six months we will take that call," Sania, who partnered Mahesh Bhupathi to defeat the duo of legendary Martina Navratilova and Paes in an International Premier Tennis League promotional tour event here, said.
"We have three Slams to play before the Olympics. As a tennis player, we don't have the luxury to prepare for Olympics six months in advance. But when we get there we will try and give our best to win a medal for the country."
The Indo-Swiss pair of Sania and Martina Hingis secured the year-end WTA doubles 1 ranking after being in 8-1 finals this season, which included the titles of Wimbledon and US Open. (Sania Mirza-Martina Hingis Secure Year-End No.1 Ranking)
"The pressure is always on us every time we're on court. We trust each other. It would be amazing to win another Slam next year. But it's not easy to win a calendar Slam. We feel really confident but at the same time we can't take anything for granted. You have to keep getting better as others keep hunting us down."
"You always have to keep fighting no matter how good you get. She always keeps trying, giving her best. For her, age is just a number. For me, I had a great year. I still want to get better and win more titles next year. Tennis players are always 'greedy', so we want to win more. If you stop wanting more then that's where the motivation dies. It's something I've learnt from her."
On Indian tennis, Sania said: "It's more believable and achievable now. The kids believe that if Sania can do it we can as well. when it's so close to home. Yuki cracked the top 100 after Somdev in a few years time. We have that crop coming up. The women's are a bit struggling than the men's who are brighter but we have still a couple of them in top 300 or so. (Sania Mirza Living up to World No. 1 Tag: Mahesh Bhupathi)
"Everything takes time to build. It does not happen overnight. Hopefully in next three four years, when we're done probably, we'll have people competing at the highest level on regular basis."