2014 ends on happy note for Sania Mirza
Sania
Mirza grabbed her third mixed doubles Grand Slam title and wrapped up her dream
season with the year-end finale trophy even as India’s established male tennis
players found the going tough in 2014.
28-year-old
Sania, who has many firsts to her name, grew further in stature as she became
the first Indian to win the season-ending finale, a feat which has eluded even
old war-horse Leander Paes.
Sania
won the US Open with first-time partner Bruno Soares and now has three mixed
doubles Grand Slam trophies in her cabinet which already consists of Australian
Open and French Open.
With
her consistent performance throughout the year, Sania made seven WTA finals and
won three titles with Zimbabwean partner Cara Black, achieving a career-best
world rank of number five.
Sania’s
US Open title came after an unwarranted controversy created by a politician,
who questioned her appointment as the Ambassador of the newly-created State of
Telangana.
The
Hyderabadi broke down on TV, debating on the issue, but later answered in a
befitting winner as she dedicated her US Open title to the people of Telangana.
She
nearly courted another controversy after initially withdrawing her name from
the national squad for the Asian Games but after being assured of a place in
the WTA Finals, she decided to compete at the Incheon Games.
Sania
came out with a gold in the mixed doubles with Saketh Myneni and a bronze in
women’s doubles with Prarthana Thombare in India’s five medal tally.
On the
men’s side, it proved to be a very tough year for not only singles star Somdev
Devvarman buy also for doubles specialists Paes and Rohan Bopanna, who suffered
a significant drop in the rankings.
Paes
could win only one title in the season and after beginning the year inside
top-10 he is now languishing at number 29, just ahead of Bopanna.
The
Coorgi’s renewed partnership with Pakistani partner Aisam-ul-haq Qureshi also
did not yield the desired results and they could win only one title this year
apart from ending runners-up in two others.
Bopanna
had begun the year at number 13 and ended at 30.
However,
the biggest disappointment was to see Somdev struggling. Supremely fit and
extremely passionate, Somdev was nowhere close to his best. Crossing even the
second rounds seemed a mountain to climb for him.
Apart
from the Challengers played in India at the start of the year, he hardly had
results to rejoice. For someone who reached as high as 62 in the world, winning
two rounds at an ATP event has become a a daunting task.
In 15
tournaments he failed to cross the first round. At the US Open, he could not
make the main draw and now that he is positioned 139 in the rankings, he won’t
get a direct entry into the 2015 Australian Open.
Not
only this, by refusing to play at the Asian Games he irked the government,
which has now made it clear that players who will skip national duty will not
be eligible for funds.
However,
Somdev did India proud in the two Davis Cup ties — against Chinese Taipei and
Serbia — by winning two of the three singles he played this year. India almost
upstaged world number two Serbia (second string) but for Yuki Bhambri’s tame
defeat in the deciding fifth rubber.
It was
promising start to the year for Yuki when he qualified for the Australian Open
doubles draw and made second round with Michael Venus. He also won the Chennai
Challenger but a heel injury forced him out of action for four months.
Injuries
have already spoilt his career, which showed a lot of promise early on.
A big
plus for Indian tennis was the rise of 19-year-old Ramkumar Ramanathan, who has
replaced Yuki as country’s second-highest ranked singles player.
When
he shocked Somdev at the start of the year many dismissed it as a fluke but as
the year progressed, Ramkumar showed that his game and fitness has improved and
he can surely be India’s next singles hope.
He now
has sting in his serve and his forehand does make an impact.
Mahesh
Bhupathi is as good as retired but he along with former star Vijay Amritraj
created a lot of buzz with their respective tennis leagues.
Bhupathi
brought tennis’ biggest stars, including Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic, to
India in a franchisee-based league, IPTL, which was a great opportunity for
fans to see legendary players in blood and flesh.
Amritraj’s
CTL was more India-centric but lacked star appeal despite featuring some
high-ranked players. CTL had presence of Indian players and someone like
Ramkumar Ramanathan had the opportunity to play alongside Mikhail Youzhny.
It is
debatable how these leagues will help Indian tennis but it surely did enough to
create a buzz around the country.
Pasted
from <http:www.thehindu.com