It’s not impossible to be Sania: Sharmada Balu

In India, talk about women’s tennis and the only name that people would recollect is Sania Mirza. For over a decade Sania has been the most talked about women’s player in India and why not. She is the only Indian who has been able to break into the top 100 in the world ranking. “As much as I would hate to admit it, we have not been able to find a youngster who can match up to Sania,” confesses Karti Chidambaram, the vice president of All India Tennis Association.

However, in their recent decision, the federation has put faith behind a few young girls in the circuit and even had three under-18 players in the Fed Cup camp. Sharmada, Balu, Kaira Shroff, Ruthuja Bhosle, Sneha Devi Reddy, Simran Kaur Sethi and Vaishnavi Reddy come under the list of select few youngsters who are on the radar to make it big in Indian tennis. “This year for Fed Cup we wanted to give a chance to a few youngsters. It’s time we groom fresh talent,” says Karti.

Sportskeeda.com spoke to one such youngster who has made it to the Fed Cup team. Sharmada Balu, Bangalore based 18-year-old who was ranked India No.1 in juniors for successive years until 2011, will travel to China on January 26 along with senior compatriots Sania Mirza, Eesha Lakhani, Prerna Bhambri and Ruthuja Bhonsle. Sharmada was first noticed by Mahesh Bhupathi and she was also one of the 20 kids in Bhupathi’s Mission 2018 which lost steam after Apollo Tyres pulled out of the project.

Sharmada who is currently in Delhi for a month long injury prevention camp is training under Aditya Sachdev. Asian Games coach and also Yuki Bhambri’s coach.

Excerpts from an interview:

In India, when people talk about women’s tennis the only name that anyone recollects is Sania Mirza. It is also said that no one can really match up to her. Your comments?

There is a huge gap between India No.1 and No.2. But that’s also because we don’t play as many matches as Sania. More than practice, playing a lot of matches helps us get more experience. Last year I played only 10-11 matches where as others play 20-24 matches. If we travel more we will get better exposure. I’m sure it’s not impossible to match up to Sania and in a couple of years we will get there.

What is it about Sania that sets her apart?

It’s really her mindset and attitude. The game definitely is better but most of us do have something that matches to her game. She is mentally very strong and the way she thinks about the game and her approach is very inspiring.

What does it feel like to have made it to the Fed Cup team?

It’s a good feeling to represent the country. I always dreamt of wearing ‘India’ on the back of my T-shirt. It’s finally happening and I am really happy about it. About ten of us were called for the Fed Cup camp and we even played the ITF Futures tournament in Sholapur and Pune based on which the team was picked. I am totally looking forward to traveling with the team. As a youngster it would give me a lot of confidence and motivation too. It will be a great experience.

You trained in Spain for a month or so last year. What was the experience like?

Training in Spain was very different. Their approach in training and playing is different from ours. Somehow I felt that they are more relaxed and don’t feel too stressed while playing. And obviously their equipments and all that are far better than ours.

In India, the federation has been quite biased and there is a lot more preference given to the men’s circuit. As a youngster in the sport does that play on your mind?

It is a little annoying that preference is more for men but I guess it has been that way for a while now and unless we pull off some great performances, this will sort of continue.

Recent achievements:

Won the ITF Futures in Lucknow

Won the Catalon Federation tournament in Spain

Won the doubles title in Delhi Women’s Nationals

Entered the semis of ITF Women’s tour in Manila