Tennis: Icon Mirza predicts tough future for Indian women after swansong

DUBAI – Sania Mirza said on Tuesday she does not see an Indian talent emerging at the top echelons of women’s tennis in the immediate future, but is hopeful that can change down the road.

The Indian icon, 36, played the final match of her 20-year professional career earlier in the day, losing alongside American Madison Keys 6-4, 6-0 to Russian pair Liudmila Samsonova and Veronika Kudermetova at the Dubai Open.

A former doubles world No. 1 and six-time Grand Slam champion in doubles and mixed doubles, Mirza’s trailblazing journey has inspired countless young people from her country to take up tennis.

“Every time that we see a glimmer of hope, we see either they go to college, and after college they never sort of come back to competing, or they’re just not able to make that next jump,” she said.

“If you’re talking about someone trying to achieve, not just me as a benchmark, but more than what I have, I honestly feel that it will probably be someone who’s maybe five or six years old today.”

The highest-ranked Indian woman in singles at the moment is 30-year-old Ankita Raina, who stands at 245th in the world, and the only other player in the top 300 is Karman Thandi, at 265th.

Apart from Mirza, there are just two Indian women in the top 200 in doubles.

“To see someone who is going to dominate at the highest level, I don’t know if I see that in the immediate five- to 10-year future. That’s the honest truth,” added Mirza, who was accompanied by her four-year-old son Izhaan in her final press conference.

Moving forward, besides focusing on her tennis academies, Mirza has also taken on a mentorship role for the Royal Challengers Bangalore women’s cricket team in the Indian Premier League.

Determined to help the next generation of young Indian girls to “believe they can be champions”, she sees this role as a great opportunity to achieve just that.

“The whole concept of me being there has nothing to do with cricket. It actually has to do with the mental aspect of things with these younger girls,” she said.

“They’ve never been in positions where they’ve had so much money, millions riding on them. Many of them haven’t been on TV, haven’t done ads, shoots. It’s so easy to get distracted from that stuff.

“It’s also very easy to tense up and feel the pressure because there’s so much expectation of you.

“I’ve obviously had that for the last 20 years of my life. So I feel that at least in that mental aspect, I’ll be able to share my experiences in just having to make them feel more comfortable.”

Ultimately, Mirza’s aim is to “make women’s sport better and more accepted” in India.

On a larger scale, there is also a Polish star who is trying her best to help elevate the sport worldwide.

World No. 1 Iga Swiatek said that she hopes the governing body of the women’s game can do more to boost the tour in 2023 and further reduce pay disparity between the sexes.

WTA Tour events still often offer less prize money than those on the men’s ATP Tour. A report in The Financial Times said the ATP Tour, as of midway through 2022, offered players 75 per cent more prize money in tournaments – excluding the Grand Slams – than the women’s tour.

Swiatek said one of the top priorities for the WTA Tour, as it celebrates its 50th anniversary, should be to ensure events are more attractive for players, sponsors, organisers and fans.

“For sure, I’d like to see the WTA expanding business-wise, getting more popular, cutting the difference between WTA and ATP in terms of prize money and attracting fans,” she said.

“Our tennis brings the same emotions as men’s tennis... There’s something you can find in women’s tennis that you’re not going to find on the ATP.” AFP, REUTERS