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Sania Mirza and Mahesh Bhupathi of India pose with the winners trophy after defeating Klaudia Jans-Ignacik of Poland and Santiago Gonzalez of Mexico in the mixed doubles fina
Indian tennis ace Sania Mirza admitted that age is a big hurdle as far as fitness is concerned.
“As you grow older, it’s harder to stay fit. Everyday you wake up with pain, muscle aches which you didn’t know you had. I’ve to work harder on me than I used to when I was 18 years old. It takes me longer to recover now,” the 26-year-old said in an interview.
Sania has had her share of injuries and surgeries in her injury-ridden career. However, the Hyderabadi girl is optimistic that she can win more titles.
“I have had three surgeries (two knee and a wrist surgery). I had a rough time with my body as tennis takes a lot of toll. it’s one of the toughest sports in the world. I have been fortunate enough to win the two slams till now. Hopefully, I can win a few more slams before I stop my career,” she added.
With the US Open coming up, Sania is hoping to play well since she has performed well on hard courts in the past. When quizzed about her hopes of winning the title at Flushing Meadows, she replied: “That’s definitely the goal as I am going to play on hard courts, which is my favourite surface. I am looking forward to it. But it’s the goal of the other 124 people playing as well. You want to try and win as many Slams as possible in your career. As a tennis player, that’s what we always dream of as a kid, wanting to play slams, wanting to win them.”
When asked for her opinion about the controversy surrounding Radio 5 Live presenter John Inverdale’s derogatory remarks about Wimbledon champion Marion Bartoli, Sania chose to remain silent.
On the Indian tennis scenario, she praised Mahesh Bhupathi for coming up with the International Tennis Premier League (ITPL) proposal. “It’s an amazing concept. We will have the biggest players in the sport playing, (Novak) Djokovic is already set to play, then we have Andy Murray and Rafael Nadal. I don’t think any reason behind not to work,” she added.
source: ndtv
