Medal at Rio Olympics would be a dream come true, says Sania Mirza
Indian tennis star Sania Mirza has admitted that winning a medal at Rio Olympics next year would be a dream come true, The Hindu reports. The Hyderabad-based player will hopefully pair up with Leander Paes, who wants to play one last Olympics for the nation.
The joint world No.1 doubles player, who will end the year atop the rankings with partner Martina Hingis, was talking at a promotional event in Mumbai, where she said, “It’s just a hope, right? If we win a medal in mixed doubles, it will be a dream come true. If we don’t, life goes on. It’s not the end of the world”.
According to Times Of India, former Davis Cup star Ramesh Krishnan said in an interview to PTI on Sunday that he believes the duo of Mirza and Paes is the best hope for an Olympic medal in tennis for India if at all they pair up.
17 Grand Slam winner Paes has been the only India tennis player thus far to win an Olympic medal. He famously won the men's singles bronze medal in the 1996 Games at Atlanta.
“He’s talking about one more Olympics but with each passing day it is getting difficult. I am sure he is hoping and we are also hoping for one last push. The only thing is you can prepare yourself well. You never know what will happen. Mixed doubles is the best option,” the veteran said.
Sania, with partner Martina Hingis won the WTA title at Singapore on Sunday, which was the pair’s 9th title of the year. The pair, popularly dubbed ‘Santina’, also won the Wimbledon and US Open titles earlier in 2015. The duo is all set to end the year as World no.1 ranked doubles players.
Tennis legend Martina Navratilova presented the WTA title to Mirza-Hingis in Singapore and later tweeted about their performance. “It’s a great honour and I am humbled. She told me I am seeing the ball like a football,” Mirza said about Navratilova.
The retired Czech-American tennis player has previously played with Leander Paes. In 2003, she won the mixed doubles titles at both the Australian Open and Wimbledon with Paes. This made her the oldest ever major champion at 46 years and 8 months. Mirza has also paired up with Paes before, the duo won the Mixed doubles gold at Doha Asian Games in 2006.
The 28-year old tennis star also won the mixed doubles gold in the 2003 Afro-Asian Games with Mahesh Bhupati, and at the 2014 Asian Games in Incheon with Saketh Myneni.