Former India tennis stars Sania Mirza and Somdev Devvarman shared contrasting views ahead of the Australian Open, with Mirza keenly watching Novak Djokovic’s bid for another Slam and praising Belinda Bencic’s inspiring comeback, while Devvarman said it’s hard to look beyond the current dominance of Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner in men’s tennis
Sania Mirza; (right) Somdev Devvarman. Pic/Devvarman’s X
Former India tennis players Sania Mirza and Somdev Devvarman felt their answers were ‘boring’ when asked to pick their favourite players for this year’s Australian Open, starting on January 18. Interestingly though, their answers were as different as chalk and cheese.
Mirza, 39, is most excited to see 24-time Grand Slam champion and 10-time Australian Open champion Novak Djokovic do well at the year’s first Slam in Melbourne.
“I’m quite excited to see how Novak is going to play. There has been so much talk about his fitness. There has been so much talk about him calling the physio [during the match]. So, I am quite excited and he seems more motivated than ever, which is incredible at this stage of his career and his life. It might sound like a boring answer that I am picking someone who is not a surprise. But Novak is someone I am excited to see. He has shown that he can get to the quarters and the semis. But can he make it over the line, which he has really been trying to do,” Mirza, a six-time doubles Grand Slam champion, told
mid-day during an interaction organised by Sony Sports Network on Friday.
In the women’s section, Mirza was moved by Belinda Bencic, who has a powerful story behind her.
“I’m very excited to see Bencic because I feel it’s an incredible story. She becomes a mother and less than two years after, she’s back to the Top 10 in the world. It’s an absolutely incredible feat to achieve and whether she wins or not is secondary, I just want to see her compete for a Grand Slam even as she is a realistic outside dark horse. I’m just too excited to watch her play,” said Mirza, who is also a mother to a seven-year-old son, Izhaan.
On the other hand, Devvarman, 40, said it’s difficult to look beyond World No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz of Spain and No. 2 Jannik Sinner of Italy.
“Do I be boring and say you can’t look past Sinner and Alcaraz? Because you can’t. The level that they are playing at, the difference in rating points between them and the rest of the tour is crazy. [It’s] 12,000 [Alcaraz, 12,050], 11,000 [Sinner, 11,500] and then 5000 [World No. 3 Alexander Zverev, 5105]. These two are head and shoulders above everybody else, so, somebody will have to play out of their skin to take them out. And then, continue and see if they can win the tournament. If they [Alcaraz and Sinner] lose, then opportunities open up. Zverev has a shot, [Lorenzo] Musetti has a shot. Novak probably feels he’s got a really good shot. All these players will believe they can beat the next guy on the other side of the net, but, if it’s Alcaraz and Sinner standing there, it’s a different story. That’s why it’s hard to look past them,” Devvarman, a gold medallist at the 2010 Commonwealth Games and the Asian Games in singles and doubles, told mid-day.
Novak Djokovic. Pics/Getty Images, AFP
99
Total wins for Novak Djokovic at the Australian Open since making his debut at the season-opening Grand Slam in 2005
Jannik Sinner
Two
Consecutive Australian Open singles titles won by Jannik Sinner
14
Consecutive matches won by Sinner at the Australian Open
Carlos Alcaraz
Zero
No. of times Carlos Alcaraz has gone beyond the quarter-finals in Melbourne where he has participated four times
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