P.S. This review has been categorized under Mahesh Bhupathi because I couldnt find any general category for Indian Tennis.
Having watched Shikha Uberoi win her first round singles match at the Sunfeast Open against an unknown Japanese girl R. Fuda, my fears about Indian Tennis flattering to deceive have grown worse. If the media hype is to be believed, if Sania is the Queen of Indian Tennis, Shikha is the crown princess. But the truth is entirely different.
Although I don’t count myself among the millions of Indians who worship Sania Mirza, I will certainly admit that the girl has a spark in her game. Despite her poor serve, and the several unforced errors that she commits in every match, she still has a few weapons in her arsenal which make her stand out, and be counted. Specifically, her booming forehand, which is acknowledged as one of the most powerful in the game. It is another thing though that unless she works on her weaknesses, she can’t really encash on her strengths too much. And her stubborn attitude doesn’t seem to be helping.
’’This is the way I play, and I can’t help it’’ is not an attitude of a prospective champion.
Something her coaches and family have to try and change in her.
But what is appalling is the fact that the only pretender to Sania’s No 1 status in India is Shikha Uberoi. Shikha, for all the training in US that she got due to her being brought up there, is really no patch on Sania. I say this despite very well knowing Sania is no great player herself, as of today. Shikha’s game simply depends on a big serve, and physical intimidation. And both seem to have worked well in her first round victory in Kolkatta. But if she hopes to graduate to playing in the big league, a good serve is not considered a luxury anymore since everyone these days has a decent serve (discounting our own Sania Mirza, of course). And all those abnormally masculine muscles are not going to intimidate players who are used to seeing Serena Williams regularly on the circuit. So really, Shikha needs to find some other weapons in her game. Unfortunately, moonballing and grunting are not exactly considered weapons. If she could hit the ball at least half as hard as she swings the racquet in the air before positioning herself to receive a serve, she would be much better placed. Sadly, she seems content in just putting the ball across the net, and waiting for the opponent to commit errors. When playing against lowly opponents like the diminutive Fuda, this might work to some extent. But she surely doesn’t expect the likes of Sharapova and the Williams’ sisters to throw away points through such unforced errors.
Apart from these two, the rest of the crop is not even worth mentioning. Neha Uberoi is probably just as good (or bad) as her sister, but she doesn’t count as an Indian since she represents USA. The Bhambri sisters Ankita and Sanaa are good only for our satellite tournaments at most. The veterans like Rashmi Chakravarthy are simply prolonging their tennis careers, and helping nobody’s cause.
With such a short supply of talent among our ranks, the hype and hoopla about Indian Women’s Tennis throwing Cricket out of its Numero Uno position seems rather far-fetched and presumptuous. Sania Mirza is really the only player who’d make headlines. Even those would mostly be because everything she does and every match she wins is a record in itself since Indian Women’s Tennis has had such a listless history. Add to the fact that she is eye-candy, and has a thing for revealing costumes, and that explains why she makes headlines.
If Shikha Uberoi ever makes headlines, I am certain it would probably be for outgrowing her cousin Vivek Oberoi in the muscles department.
And that is still not headline-worthy news.