Tennis: Sania slump

India’s Sania Mirza(Singles Rank 53) lost to Aiko Nakamura (Singles Rank 65) 6/3 6/2 in the second round of the Australian Open 2007. Here is the Scorecard, and some press coverage.

Vital stats (of Sania) in the game:

• Unforced Errors 26
• Winners (Including Service): 14
• Winning % on 1st Serve: 14 of 23 = 61 %
• Winning % on 2nd Serve: 4 of 20 = 20 %.

I saw Sania play at the Stanford Open in 2006. My impression of Sania was of a good player with immense potential who needs fine-tuning, and direction. However I could find the same two problems with her game
1. A very weak second serve, something, which she could definitely improve by practice.
2. Habit of hitting every ball hard, very hard and in the process making a bunch of unforced errors.

Sania's game is arrogant, like a raging bull. One can see aggression in every shot, but I fear the thinking cap being misplaced at critical junctures in the points. Sania has been ranked in the Top 50 for a while now, and at that level, the game becomes a craft, and one has to work their way through tough points, weather elements, different opponents, and injuries. At 20, Sania has time to learn. But its a game of the young with Sharapova (19), Safina (20), Vadisova (18). Ms Mirza needs to hurry up.