KOCHI: Sania Mirza is hoping to make a comeback to the tennis court next month after having overcome coronavirus. The tennis ace is set to play two tournaments in Doha and Dubai next month while the Olympics remains the long term objective.
"Having gone through Covid, I had it last month as I was unlucky to get it and I don't wish it on anybody. It was pretty scary for me," said Sania during an online interaction on Thursday.
After having a baby, the 34-year-old's comeback to the tennis court was interrupted by the pandemic but she hopes to be ready for the Olympics.
"Olympics is something that I had made a comeback for last year, but unfortunately it didn't happen. It is certainly something in the back of my mind," she said.
For a long time, Sania has been the poster girl of Indian women's tennis and she is happy that someone like Ankita Raina is starting to make her mark. Ankita recently made her Grand Slam debut although it was short-lived as the Indian and her doubles partner Mihaela Buzarnecu crashed out in the first round of the Australian Open.
Sania feels that the 28-year-old will improve over time and packs a lot of potential.
"Ankita is a very talented player. She's been working really hard and has been number one in the country for a few years. I think it's a matter of pride that she was only the fifth woman to play a Grand Slam and I think we should take pride in that. She is still young and hopefully, in the next couple of years, she can try to get better and better and hopefully become a regular at playing these Grand Slams," said Sania.
While talking about women's tennis, Naomi Osaka denied Serena Williams the opportunity to win a record-equaling 24th Grand Slam after beating her on Thursday. When asked if Osaka could step into the shoes of Serena once the American retires, Sania urged caution.
"That's a big ask of anyone right (to step into Serena's shoes)? I mean Serena is the greatest women's tennis player. So it's a difficult ask for someone who is that young and who has only won three Grand Slams. She has a lot of catching up to do. But I do think that Osaka has a lot of great things in her to achieve. She's probably a successor of sorts and she is definitely someone who is going to win a lot of slams in the future. Whether she can step into Serena's shoes is a different question altogether," said Sania.
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