One More Digression: Tennis Rant this Time

Update: Mahesh Bhupathi won the mixed doubles title at the US Open playing with Daneila Hantuchova of Slovakia.

TV news channels are reporting that Muslim Board of India has issued a fatwah against Sania Mirza for her way of dressing up on court. Poor girl, I hope she will come out of this episode quickly (RPM, you were so right).
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Two things prompted me to write this. One, the huge hype built around Sania Mirza back home in India. Two, hardly any mention about Mahesh Bhupathi and Leander Paes in the Indian media though they have achieved a lot in terms of grand slam titles.

A day before Saina Mirza was due to play Maria Sharapova in the last 16 of the US open 2005, I was watching Zee News (an Indian news channel) and in their opinion poll 84% of public said Saina Mirza would win! That made me ponder real hard that why did people think so? Unbound enthusiasm or what? Anyone who had seen Saina and Sharapova play at this US open, would not be betting their money on Sania with her current level of the game, yet 84% said she would win! Is it that people are/were buying the media hype? The final score line was 6-2, 6-1 in favor of Maria Sharapova. And today’s papers claim ‘Line call hit Sania, says her coach.’ One can read it in Asian Age (where there are no visible links for a story) and at:

http://inhome.rediff.com/sports/2005/sep/06sania.htm

There is a call said to affect Sania, when she was down 2-4, and had three break points on Sharapova’s serve. Even if the call had gone into her favor the score would have been 3-4. Anyway, I thought top players dealt with such things routinely and yet managed to win games. And the replays showed very clearly that Sharapova’s service was on the line indeed.

I am not trying to say that Sania is not a good player. She is damn good, but she has miles to go in terms of second serves and reducing her unforced errors before, I (anyone?) can actually think of betting the money on her against Maria Sharapova. But for the Indian press she can do no wrong, it was a line call that ruined her chances. What chances, I want to ask?

In contrast, Mahesh Bhupathi is in the semifinals of the mixed doubles of the US Open 2005 and he even has a glamorous partner, Daniela Hantuchova of Slovakia. Yet, the Indian press is largely silent on his exploits. He won Wimbledon mixed doubles crown in the year 2005 playing with Mary Pierce. Leander Paes plays with Martina Navratilova and they have won grand slam events together but it is not hype worthy news for Indian papers. In a country where there are not too many success stories to pick from, I wonder why such noteworthy achievements go under reported. Why not the song and dance about them? Below I am listing the achievements of Bhupathi and Paes(all the facts have been gathered from various internet sites).

Mahesh Bhupathi

MEN’S DOUBLES

YearChampionshipPartner

1999French OpenLeander Paes (IND)

1999WimbledonLeander Paes (IND)

2001French Open Leander Paes (IND)

2002U.S. OpenMax Mirnyi (BLR)

MIXED DOUBLES

YearChampionshipPartner

1997French OpenRika Hiraki (JPN)

1999U.S. OpenAi Sugiyama (JPN)

2002WimbledonElena Likhovtseva (RUS)

2004 – Athens Olympics, reached semi-finals of the doubles competition.

2005WimbledonMary Pierce (FRA)

Leander Paes

1992 – Barcelona Olympics, reached quarter-finals of the doubles competition

1993 – Davis Cup, reached semi-finals

1996 – Atlanta Olympics, singles bronze-medalist

1997 – US Open doubles, reached semi-finals

1998 – reached doubles semi-finals of Australian, French and US Open

1999 – reached doubles finals of all the four Grand Slams, eventually winning at Wimbledon and French Open.
2001 – French Open doubles title

2003 – Wimbledon and Australian Open mixed-doubles title along with Martina Navratilova

2004 – Athens Olympics, reached semi-finals of the doubles competition.

Now is that not impressive?