The world knows Sania Mirza as one-half of “SanTina”, the doubles pairing of Sania Mirza and Martina Hingis, which took the tennis world by storm in the better part of last year. With three Grand Slam titles on the trot and an amazing 41-match winning streak, they were the team to beat before their slump in form from the clay-court season this year.

But back home in India, a nation starved of tennis stars, she was the representative of a billion hopes. Till date, she is the only woman from the subcontinent to play at WTA level and has been doing so for the past decade. Armed with a blistering forehand, Mirza achieved a career-high ranking of number 27 in Singles and number one in Doubles.

“Ace Against Odds” is the story of a girl who dared to dream. This autobiography was released on 4th of July 2016 and was officially launched on 13th July. The book is co-authored by Sania's father, Imran Mirza, and journalist Shivani Gupta published by Harper Collins.

Early Career

The book starts with a foreword from Martina Hingis, her current doubles partner and Mahesh Bhupathi, who has been her mentor and friend throughout her professional journey.

“Sania has a merciless forehand and her well-placed serve starts us perfectly in each point. Where other people would break their bones, she calmly produces winners with an incredible flick of the wrist”- Martina Hingis

The first part of the book details her initial brush-ups with the sport and her junior career. But the first few pages of the book can shock one into silence when she recounts an incident from her childhood before she took up the game, that if not for tiny change of events, the world might not have known Sania Mirza.

The book was fast paced and briefed the nuances of her life without boring the reader. Her life was certainly eventful both on and off the court. At one instance, the reader is taken through the traumatic experience of a child, who just wanted to make it to her junior national team, only to be caught in the midst of a gang war, until playing tennis became the last thing on her mind.

One thing that has been constant throughout her life has been the solidarity and support shown by her parents. One has to appreciate the sacrifice of a common middle-class man who bore the society’s scorn and continued to have faith in his daughter.

Big Stage

She came into the limelight as a 16-year-old, when she became a Wimbledon Junior Girls’ Doubles Champion with Alisa Kleybanova. She became an instant star back home when as an 18-year-old, she set up a third round meeting with Serena Williams at the Australian Open 2005 in her Slam debut. She takes us through her professional career with all its peaks and bumps until her successful partnership with Hingis.

On the technical side, she discusses how her biggest weapon, the forehand took shape and elongates even more on her weak link, the serve in bits and pieces throughout the book.

“My new coach helped me improve my backhand but after having tried for a week to straighten out the elbow problem in my serve, suggested that it might be too late to rectify that particular shortcoming .He proved to be right because even in later years, some of the best coaches could only come up with a compromise rather than a complete solution to my problem.”

Serena Williams shakes hands with Sania Mirza in their third round match at the 2005 Australian Open (Photo by:JIMIN LAI/AFP/Getty Images)
Serena Williams shakes hands with Sania Mirza in their third round match at the 2005 Australian Open (Photo by Jimin Lai/AFP/Getty Images)

Many promising careers have been dogged by injuries and Mirza is no different. Having had three surgeries performed in five years, she took an extremely hard decision to give up singles in order to prolong her career. The dark side of an athlete’s life was articulately expressed by her.

“I am not sure what I was thinking then, but I continued to play on, going into my third-round singles match against Daniella Hantuchova.I was in uncontrollable pain by then.I lost the match and was relieved to be off the court.I started working out on the bike afterwards to cool down, as part of the normal routine to get the lactic acid out of my body. But when I tried to press a button, I just could not. The adrenaline had helped me finish the match, but I knew my wrist had snapped. I had pushed it to the limit and it had finally come undone.”

Controversies                            

The biggest struggle for Mirza was perhaps with a story-hungry media. From her fatwa to her marriage to Shoaib Malik, a cricketer from a politically rival nation, she has been dogged with controversies for a large part of her career. The most impressive part of her book is the way she has addressed each and every controversy against her name with grace and absolute honesty. Her anguish and emotions can be felt by the reader when she matches her side of the story to the one that the world knows.

“I sat down with close friend Mahesh Bhupathi and my father before the Australian Open and told them I wanted to retire after the tournament. They were shocked.’ What the hell are you talking about?’ Mahesh said. ’I can’t do this anymore Mahesh. I can’t deal with these people anymore,’ I wailed.”

Closure

The book ends with Mirza expressing her satisfaction with her life and cherishing the various awards and social responsibilities entrusted to her. She explains her motive behind the Sania Mirza Tennis Academy (SMTA) and signs off with a vision to develop tennis in India.

“My vision for the development of tennis in our country may seem far-fetched but I have been in this position before. When I was a little girl pursuing a dream, nobody believed an Indian woman could win a Grand Slam title or be ranked no.1 in the world. I have always relished the challenge of defying the odds that are stacked against me. I want to do it one more time and play a constructive role in nurturing the next generation of Grand Slam champions from India that our country so richly deserves to have.”

Overall the book was well written and is worthy of a read. It brings out the highs and lows of playing a professional sport and will certainly provide inspiration to the girls in India to dream big. Her story is special, not because she has achieved more than anyone but because she has paved the way for the next generation in her country. However, the nature of the book is such that it would not interest a common man who doesn’t watch tennis.

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