NEW DELHI, Sept 7: Tennis guru Bob Brett says "God given talent" has carried Sania Mirza so far but to go further in the game, the Indian ace must work hard on her fitness.
"Sania has been winning so far on her God given talent ... from here on, she must suffer the physical pain," Brett, with whom Sania has had brief stints in the past, said.
"The bench mark for today's women players is Justine Henin-Hardenne. And for men, it is Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer.
"Sania must aspire to that level. It is important for her to address this, to face the challenge of modern tennis," said the Italian, in the city for a three-day coaching programme sponsored by 'Head'.
Brett, who has coached the likes of Boris Becker, Andy Roddick and Marat Safin among other leading players, said Sania is a much more improved player technically and physically now than she was a few years back.
"We should judge her at the end of her career. She is physically better than she was three years ago, technically better than two years ago," he said.
On Sania struggling to string together a few wins in her second year as senior pro, Brett said she was probably focussing more on her weaknesses and in the process had failed to work on her strengths.
"Her backhand has definitely improved and so has her serve. But she has started to miss her forehands," observed Brett, at whose academy in Italy other Indian players like Rohan Bopanna and Harsh Mankad have also trained.
"Athletes are traditionally obsessed with improving their weakness, without paying attention to the development of their strengths.
"Now she has started to think about her forehand. It is still one of the best in the game, the instinct has not disappeared from her character."
Brett, who is also currently the coach of Japanese Davis Cup team, said Sania was going through the "historically difficult second year".
"It is easy to jump from 480 to 30 in rankings than to move from 30 to 20, because then the competition becomes tougher and the expectations become higher." Her game hasn't improved that quickly as her rankings. And her opponents have started to identify her areas of weaknesses.
He said Sania must find a balance between going for her shots and cutting down the unforced errors, and cited her match against Maria Sharapova at the US Open last year as an instance.
"When you are playing a 480-ranked player, you can finish the point in a couple of shots. But when you are playing a top-10 player, they are going to consistently put the ball back. She certainly needs to go for the winners but she must balance it with some degree of patience." Brett advised Sania to not just use her forehand as a standout weapon but make it a part of her armoury.
"Individually great shots give you an advantage. But when you combine it with other aspects of the game, like serving, volleying and etc, it gives a long lasting chance for greatness." On the 19-year-old Hyderabadi lass switching three coaches this year, the Italian said probaby she did not strike the "right chemistry" with them.
"Any coaching change requires nine months to see its results. Anything earlier is good fortune," he said. "It is all about finding the right chemistry. To have a good understanding is important. It is about making the right decision, finding the right person at the right time." Brett also warned her critics not to treat Sania's "wins as successes and losses as failures."
"She has the ability to be a much higher-ranked player."
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