Birmingham - Sania Mirza has admitted the pressure on her is "growing by the day" as she adapts to life as India's first female sports star.
Ever since she won the junior girls title at Wimbledon in 2003, an achievement which saw her favourite cricketer and India icon Sachin Tendulkar gift her a sportscar, Mirza's career has been on an upward path.
In 2005 she became the first Indian woman to break into the world's Top 50, the first to win a tournament and to reach the fourth round of a Grand Slam event.
All these feats led to the now 19-year-old Mirza being named Newcomer of the Year on the women's tour.
As her tennis profile rose the Muslim teenager also found herself having to cope with attacks from some clergy unhappy with the outfits, unexceptional compared to those say of Serena Williams, she was wearing on court.
And Mirza, who won her first-round match at the DFS Classic WTA grass-court event on Tuesday, with a 6-2, 3-6, 6-3 defeat of Ukraine's Alona Bondarenko, admitted life in the spotlight was far fron an easy ride.
"After what happened last year there's a lot of pressure on me, with people expecting me to do a lot better than I did," she said.
"The pressure is growing by the day. Every match, whether I win or lose, people expect me to do better than I ever can.
"That's something that as an athlete you go through day in and day out, although my upbringing is such I feel I can ignore it.
"It's something you need to learn to block out. It's hard to do all the time because there are occasions when you feel pressure. That's when family helps."
Cricket may still be India's premier sporting passion but interest in Mirza's career is increasing all the time amongst her compatriots.
But she accepted this was now a part of her life. "You cannot live in the 21st century and not read a newspaper or the Internet.
"No matter if you say you are going to block something out, you see and hear things. Every time I go back home I learn a new thing about myself that I never knew about.
"That's something you learn to deal with, and I know it's going to grow more and more each day.
"I truly believe in the past 18 months I've grown up by more than five years.
"I've seen a lot more than any normal 19-year-old may have seen, but then you have to make some sacrifices to get to the top."
Victory over Bondarenko helped Mirza relive the greatest day of her career thus far.
She beat the 21-year-old in her home city tournament in Hyderabad last year to become the first Indian woman to win a WTA Tour title.
This time Mirza again won in three sets, though there were moments, particularly when she slipped to a 1-3 deficit in the final set, when it seemed she was going to fall short.
But she regained focus and counter-attacked boldly for a satisfactory start to her grass-court buildup to Wimbledon.
"I lost a bit of concentration and she came up with some good shots," admitted Mirza, the 14th seed. "I am happy just to have won it.
"I have been practising on the grass for the last three days, so I am getting used to it."
Mirza, who was beaten in last year's Edgbaston event by eventual finalist Jelena Jankovic, said she was pleased to be back. "Grass really suits my game. It helps as I like to take risks to win matches."
Mirza faces American Shenay Perry, the world No 92, for a shot at a quarterfinal place in a section without third seed Daniela Hantuchova, who withdrew with a wrist injury on Monday.
"The next round will be difficult though," said Mirza of her encounter with Perry. "We haven't played before, but she plays a big game so I know it will be a tough match." - Sapa-AFP
Sania mirza
Source: http://www.int.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=6&click_id=30&art_id=qw1150261381900S163
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