Sania Mania !!

An Indian woman sportsperson created history last fortnight. She made the headlines on the prime time news; she hogged the headlines in next morning’s news papers. The major magazines of the nation devoted more than a page to her. She was felicitated by among others the chief minister and governor of her state. Did Sania Mirza win the Australian Open?? Sania lost in the third round.

Agreed that reaching the third round was a first for an Indian woman tennis player and that, she more than gave a fight to the eventual champion Serena Williams. She is a talented player and may very well win more matches and bring more laurels. She has to be nurtured, given world class training, coaching and facilities and sponsors. This unprecedented third round performance has made her a celebrity overnight and if I am to believe the news reports she has received sponsorship endorsements worth 8 crores. Thank god, Mahesh Bhupathi was visionary enough to see her potential take her under his wings and sign her for his sports management firm.

While all this is welcome, I fear that amidst all this the tennis player in Sania may lose out to the celebrity Sania. She has already started appearing in advertisements and started speaking like a celebrity. Take this Quote “I want to be a youth icon, not a sex symbol”. You cannot blame her , she is all of 17 , and is seeing her photos splashed all across in the net , in Television and billboards where one clearly sees that the emphasis is more on her good looks. Every major satellite channel has aired an interview with her in the last 15 days. There is a grave danger of her getting bitten by the celebrity bug. Let her achieve some more, let she win a grand slam, then we can treat her like a queen... There is the example of Anna kournikova, who became a rage not for her tennis, but for her looks. She made one Wimbledon semi final appearance, no WTA titles, retired at 24 and now is known more as Enrique Inglesias’s girlfriend. She realized that she can make more money without playing Tennis.

She is treading on unknown path; we did not have Indian woman tennis celebrity before her. Her success can spawn much more such players. While there is no dearth of female tennis players in the senior junior, sub junior level etc not one of them have made big in the international stage. A successful Sania Mirza can inspire many more. Leander Paes won junior Wimbledon; he performed miracles in the Davis cup, won grand slam doubles. We as a nation were overjoyed and treated him like a Hero. While Leander deserved all this, if we had been more demanding from him maybe he would have excelled as a singles player as well. Similarly we must demand more from Sania. Give her sponsorships, but as a return do not make her to act in stupid commercials. Do not make her think that by doing commercials she can give back her due to her sponsors. Demand performance on the tennis court, not in front of the camera. Let she become a star , do not create one.