Sania hopes for Dubai deja vu

If, as the tennis world believes, a head-to-head advantage is half the battle won, Sania Mirza will take the court against Svetlana Kuznetso...

If, as the tennis world believes, a head-to-head advantage is half the battle won, Sania Mirza will take the court against Svetlana Kuznetsova tomorrow with a racket-bag full of confidence. But she knows that to play against the fifth seed, whom she beat in Dubai earlier this year, she will require to win everywhere: in the mind, on court, in the pre-match stats.

‘‘Look, it’s not easy to beat a Top-5 player every time’’, she told The Indian Express today, a firm indication that her greatest enemy will probably be the burden of expectation. ‘‘I wouldn’t rate my chances as 50-50, it’s a little less than that.’’

The biggest problem Sania will face tomorrow is Svetlana’s big serves. ‘‘That’s the key’’, she says, adding, ‘‘you can’t get away twice.’’ The latter is a reference to the fact that Svetlana’s serves were way below her usual percentage levels in Dubai.

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The other problem is her own serve, which famously lacks sting. Sania returns that charge with a perfect forehand: ‘‘In my opening game at Wimbledon I had a good 63 per cent first serve logged.’’

If she can get her percentage groundstrokes working, and raise her confidence and aggression levels, and also dream big enough, she may just pull it off.

The 6-4, 6-2 scoreline from the Dubai Open is vivid in Sania’s mind. ‘‘It sure was big — and a repeat would be bigger.’’

The circumstances are, however, completely changed this time. Sania went into that match fresh from winning the Hyderabad Open — her first and, so far, only WTA title — and in the middle of a six-match winning streak. Her forehand was working like a dream and she was running on adrenaline.

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In the heat of Dubai, Svetlana really didn’t have much of a chance.

Since then, though, the injury she played on in Dubai has kept her out of tournaments and she’s just getting back her match-fitness. Svetlana, by contrast, has been active on the circuit, playing seven tournaments this year to Sania’s five.

‘‘I’ve just about come back’’, Sania adds, ‘‘at this level one needs to be cent percent fit — that’s vital.’’

The one thing that goes against Sania is not getting the big wins to her name. Her post-Dubai record reads just two wins in seven matches — and both to players way below her ranking.

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So a problem there? Not really, Sania shoots back, ‘‘to win any match after injury is confidence-boosting — I needed that.’’

Sania loses in doubles

Sania Mirza and Anna Chakvetadze of Russia lost in the first round of the ladies doubles eventtoday. The Indo-Russian pair, which had reached the second roundin the French Open, were defeated 6-2, 6-1 by Alina Jidkova of Russia and Tatiana Perebiynis of Ukrain.