Commonwealth Games 2010: Home crowd carries Sania Mirza

Some Commonwealth Games venues have struggled to attract the fans but there have been no such problems at the RK Khanna Tennis Complex, where Indian players have been keeping the home crowd happy.

Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi were entertaining all week before suffering defeat in the semi-finals, but Somdev Devvarman made it to the men's singles final.

Apart from the cricket team, though, there is arguably no Indian sports star that attracts attention like Sania Mirza, who on Friday battled past Australia's Olivia Rogowska to reach the final of the women's singles.

Only some of that attention comes because of her ability on the court during a seven-year career that has seen her reach the heights of number 27 in the world, then spiral to her current rank of 137.

The rest has a lot to do with her marriage to Pakistan cricketer Shoaib Malik.

If you need a comparison in the western world, it's with Posh and Becks - the combination of two people who are the biggest in their own field.

But there is never really an equivalent to the adulation for Indian sports or Bollywood stars because in a country with a population of 1.2 billion there are just so many fans.

Mirza, a Muslim, has courted controversy in the past by wearing short skirts and by playing doubles with Israel's Shahar Peer, quite apart from marrying Pakistani divorcee Shoaib.

But even though there was criticism about the wedding, there was also wall-to-wall coverage.

If Mirza walked down a Delhi street she would be mobbed, and her popularity was obvious on Friday as the crowd chanted, "India Rules, India Wins!" and applauded Rogowska's double-faults, urging their favourite to victory.

Mirza rewarded them by hitting balls into the crowd afterwards.

"There are pros and cons with everything. It's great to have a home crowd behind you, supporting you. They want you to win badly and pull you up," she told me.

"yes, there's a lot of pressure when you're playing at home. Everyone feels it all the more in India."
Shoaib was there to watch his wife on Friday, occasionally leaning over the wall behind the baseline to offer advice, but he will miss the final because he has other commitments.

"It's great to have someone who is so good in his sport. It makes it a lot easier for both of us," said Mirza, who lives with Shoaib in Dubai.


"The support is great but also the fact he understands a lot of what goes into it and what goes through your mind.

"He's very calm during a match and I'm not like that, I'm very different. I think he gives me that soothing factor.

"It's pretty amazing, considering he still plays for his country and I still play for mine and we still support each other. Sometimes it gets difficult to have some private time but thankfully we're very homely people."

Mirza has had her eyes on her game, rather than on the medals table, where the Indian team have established themselves in second place, aiming for 100 medals.

"I try not to watch the news when I'm in India, especially when I'm playing, because a lot is said, but I did hear that India is number two at the moment," she said.

"I hope we can add some more medals to that and hopefully I can get the gold and Somdev can too."

Source: news.bbc.co.uk
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