Doubles Vision

If today was anything to go by, Indian women8217;s tennis could have its own star doubles pairing. In only their second match together, San...

If today was anything to go by, Indian women8217;s tennis could have its own star doubles pairing. In only their second match together, Sania Mirza and Shikha Uberoi beat China8217;s Na Li and Chin Wei Chan in straight sets in the first round of the WTA event here today.

8216;8216;Very promising8217;8217;, said Mahesh Bhupathi, one half of the country8217;s most famous doubles pairing yet. Then added, 8216;8216;They have to fine-tune themselves but they are good enough for the Fed Cup.8217;8217;

Playing amid a wall of sound 8212; a packed stadium constantly cheering and whistling 8212; they displayed the understanding that gave them an easy ride.

While Shikha8217;s big first serves provided the openings Sania doubled up at the net with timely interceptions. Both went for narrowed angles at the net, and both achieved a high degree of success when at it.

They also had the emotional measure of each other. In the seventh game of the second set, when Na Li8217;s forehand appeared to go out but was called in, Sania walked up to contest the decision. The umpire ruled it, at which point Sania sagged on to the net, resting her head on it. Shikha walked up, put her arms around her and gently pulled her back to play.

After the match they were predictably upbeat. 8216;8216;We believe we have a chance8217;8217;, said Shikha.

She then spoke at length about having to share the court with Hyderabad8217;s current Most Favoured Person. 8216;8216;This girl is so famous. But it8217;s amazing how she handles such pressure every day. Whether she plays in India or abroad, the expectations are phenomenal 8212; even Roger Federer probably hasn8217;t played under such pressure. It8217;s just incredible.8217;8217;

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Sania acknowledging her partner8217;s patience and fihting instinct. 8216;8216;She8217;s a very competitive player on court even when she is playing her own sister.8217;8217;

She also paid tribute to her home crowd. 8216;8216;Half of them don8217;t even know how the scoring is done, but they still come. That shows their love for the game. The capacity of the stadium is 4,500 but I don8217;t know how 6,000 managed to sit in.8217;8217;

So is this the beginning of a beautiful relationship? They were not committing themselves on that. 8216;8216;I8217;m open to the idea8217;8217;, Sania said, 8216;8216;as we don8217;t have any fixed partners. But then Shikha has a playing sister8230;8217;8217;

For India, with the Fed Cup round the corner, that issue can wait. The immediate good news is that the first sub-150 pairing looks to be doing well. If only they can crack it in singles too.