Indian tennis legend Vijay Amrirtraj, applauding the progress Sania Mirza has made in her play, said she has the potential to make the world's top-10, if guided properly.
"You can see she is maturing mentally," Vijay said. "Our players mature mentally first and then physically, unlike the westerners for whom it is the reverse. For our players, their best years are 24 onwards. Look at Rafael Nadal, given the way he plays, I would be surprised if he goes beyond 26 or 27 years of age."
The former Indian Davis Cup captain, who has worn many hats internationally with his charity work and business commitments, added that he no long considers movement a weakness in Sania's game. "She has put in a lot of work there.
It is obvious in a match situation," Vijay said. "She is clearly able to hold her own now. There are a lot of players in the top ten, who are not great athletes — Vaidisova, Petrova, even Sharapova. Sania has made significant strides here."
"What I would tell her or any of the younger players is to gamble the losses. At the end of your career, nobody remembers if you lost in the second round in Bali, they remember if you won that exciting quarterfinal at Wimbledon or the other majors."
Vijay urged young players to do whatever it takes, including taking time off from the tour, to correct technical flaws in their game. "I always quote the example of Mats Wilander who in 1987 went off the tour for a while to add the sliced backhand to his double-handed shot. He came back and became the world No 1," Vijay said.
"You shouldn't be worrying about results," the LA-based star said. "The question is are you a better player today than you were yesterday? That is the only question you need to ask yourself."
"There are a lot of areas in Sania's game that needs to be worked on," Vijay said. "The good thing is she has age on her side, she has the desire, the work ethic and an explosive game from the back of the court, if she is guided properly, in my opinion she is definitely a top 10 player. She has the required raw material."
"You can see she is maturing mentally," Vijay said. "Our players mature mentally first and then physically, unlike the westerners for whom it is the reverse. For our players, their best years are 24 onwards. Look at Rafael Nadal, given the way he plays, I would be surprised if he goes beyond 26 or 27 years of age."
The former Indian Davis Cup captain, who has worn many hats internationally with his charity work and business commitments, added that he no long considers movement a weakness in Sania's game. "She has put in a lot of work there.
It is obvious in a match situation," Vijay said. "She is clearly able to hold her own now. There are a lot of players in the top ten, who are not great athletes — Vaidisova, Petrova, even Sharapova. Sania has made significant strides here."
"What I would tell her or any of the younger players is to gamble the losses. At the end of your career, nobody remembers if you lost in the second round in Bali, they remember if you won that exciting quarterfinal at Wimbledon or the other majors."
Vijay urged young players to do whatever it takes, including taking time off from the tour, to correct technical flaws in their game. "I always quote the example of Mats Wilander who in 1987 went off the tour for a while to add the sliced backhand to his double-handed shot. He came back and became the world No 1," Vijay said.
"You shouldn't be worrying about results," the LA-based star said. "The question is are you a better player today than you were yesterday? That is the only question you need to ask yourself."
"There are a lot of areas in Sania's game that needs to be worked on," Vijay said. "The good thing is she has age on her side, she has the desire, the work ethic and an explosive game from the back of the court, if she is guided properly, in my opinion she is definitely a top 10 player. She has the required raw material."
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