Sania can be a top-10 player: Bhupathi

Mahesh Bhupathi has backed compatriot and protege Sania Mirza to break into the world’s top 10 in the Sony Ericsson WTA tour rankings but asked Indian fans to lower their expectations of the 20-year-old.


"She’s definitely got potential to be in the top 10. To win a grand slam, you need a lot of luck and you got to put in a lot more work. But she’s got a huge game," Bhupathi told XPRESS.

"There are a lot of hopes [on her]. Every time the Indian cricket team plays, everyone hopes they win. Sania’s put in the same boat but I think people need to realise it’s not possible to win every time you play. It’s a professional sport, Roger Federer loses. She is not going out there losing for the sake of the media giving her a hard time."

Bhupathi also hit out Mirza’s critics. "I don’t think there’s any criticism. Public opinion is not criticising Sania Mirza. These are random people. The guy in Bhopal who brought up the flag issue or a random person in Hyderabad brings up some other issue. These are random people who like to get their names in the papers," said Bhupathi.

Source:- http://www.xpress4me.com/

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Groeneveld is Sania's new coach



BANGALORE, March 12: Indian tennis ace Sania Mirza has hired the services of top tennis coach Sven Groeneveld, who is also coaching the world number two Serbian Ana Ivanovic. The 21-year-old, presently in Indian Wells where she’s playing the elite $2,100,000 Tier I tournament, started working with the Dutchman earlier this week.

Groeneveld, who has almost two decades of international coaching experience behind him, has worked with Mary Pierce, Michael Stich, Greg Rusedski and Nicolas Kiefer among others in the past. He’ll work with Sania for 15 weeks during the course of the year. Groeneveld will coach the Hyderabadi during Grand Slams and Tier I tournaments. He will work in tandem with her father Imran, who will manage her coaching full-time for the rest of the season.

"I’ve been fortunate to benefit from the skills of other top-notch coaches like Tony Roche, Bob Brett, Gabriel Urpi and John Farrington," Sania told ToI. "I’m confident that Sven will add another dimension to my game. Of course, my dad will continue to be with me to ensure the continuity in my development as he obviously understands my game and temperament better than anyone."

Sania, who travels with former WTA Tour physio Renuka Pinto, has been on the lookout for a coach in the new season. Last year, she worked in part with former pro Gabriel Urpi.

Imran, who has coached and travelled with his daughter for the most part of the last three years, said: "I’ve known Sven for a few years now. Two years ago, he had mentioned that Sania had the best pair of hands in women’s tennis ever. He felt he could be of help in her development, but at that time Sania was working with Bob Brett. I’ve been talking with Sven for a while now and we’ll see how this goes from here."

Imran added: "Groeneveld is a vastly experienced coach, who has worked with the likes of Sharapova and Ivanovic. However, each player is an individual and that is something Sven understands."

Source:- http://sports.indiatimes.com

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'Sania needs to work on fitness to reach top 10'

Rainier Hoffman, the world No.12 Patty Schnyder's husband-cum-coach, feels Sania Mirza needs to work on fitness and court movement to break into the top-10 bracket of world tennis. Hoffmann has in the past helped Sania with her game.

Hoffmann, a German private investigator and information technology specialist who became Schnyder's full-time coach after their marriage in December 2003, has also worked with world No.6 Anna Chakvetadze of Russia.

The German was Sania's part-time coach during Women's Tennis Association (WTA) tournaments at Cincinnati and Stanford last year.

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"Sania is a good player but she is not a surety in top 10 but Chakvetadze is undoubtedly a top 10 player," Hoffmann told IANS.

"She (Sania) has good spirit, good eye and a very strong forehand, but to be a top 10 player she needs to work more on her fitness, on court movements and tactical aspects of the game," he added.

Asked about the specific grey areas on which Sania needs to work, Hoffmann said: "I feel Sania has to be more consistent with her game, but her father can tell you better as he is her coach now."

He also ruled out any possibility of coaching Sania in the near future. "I have a different set of rules and different thinking towards the game. I already have two assignments in my hand."

Asked about his wife Schnyder's failure to win a Grand Slam title considering that she is one of the top players in the circuit since mid-1990s, Hoffmann candidly said: "You need to have head to win Grand Slam. You can't win a Grand Slam only with your game."

Source:- http://sify.com/sports/