Sania Mirza Shares the Motivation Behind Her Aggressive Tennis Strategy
Indian tennis player Sania Mirza, who is retiring from the sport, believes that not treating tennis as the be-all and end-all gave her the freedom to play aggressively. According to her, the fear of losing makes a player defensive, and not having this fear allowed her to unleash her aggressive game every time she stepped on the court. Mirza said that tennis was always going to be an important part of her life, but it was not her entire life.
The Aggressive Mindset:
Mirza, who defeated some of the best players of her era, including Svetlana Kuznetsova, Martina Hingis, Nadia Petrova, and Flavia Penneta, always played with an aggressive mindset. She never had the fear of losing in her heart, and therefore did not become defensive on the court. Mirza said that many players become defensive because they have the fear of losing, and think that pushing the ball inside the court is the way to avoid losing. But in the long run, that doesn’t work to become a top athlete, according to Mirza.
Handling Defeats:
As an athlete, Mirza worked to get as many wins under her belt as possible, and her risky style did not always let her do that. However, she was always prepared to lose matches, and the defeats did not affect her for long. She said that some defeats affected her more than others, but she always knew that losing a tennis match was not the end of the world.
The Gift of Forehand:
Mirza’s game was known for her ripped forehands from impossible-looking angles. She won three women’s doubles Grand Slam trophies and as many mixed doubles titles in her almost two-decade-long career. According to Mirza, the timing and the way she struck the ball were natural gifts, but there was a lot of work that went into her grip, bringing variation into the shot, and making it deceptive, where people are not able to read it. Mirza’s hyper-mobile joint structure may have contributed to the career-threatening wrist injury that forced her to quit singles.
Not Caring about Criticism:
Mirza did not care about the criticism that she chose the easy route by quitting singles and focusing on doubles. She said that the doubles format is considered by many a sideshow as against the singles, which tests all aspects of your game — fitness, movement, ground strokes, stamina, and mental fortitude. However, she had a great singles career as well and was a top-30 player in the world, which has not happened in India in a very long time. She chose to move on to doubles because her body was not able to take it after three surgeries, and being number one in the world at whatever you do is amazing, according to Mirza.
The Most Vulnerable and the Strongest:
Mirza feels that the weakest she ever felt was during the 2008 Olympics when she had a bad wrist injury. However, she felt the strongest when she was able to come back from injuries and win tournaments. Mirza said that every athlete has moments of vulnerability, but what defines them is how they come back from those moments.
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