Sania Mirza dressed for success

Tuesday, 23 June 2009

India's Sania Mirza faces a triple challenge to reach the third round at Wimbledon: knock out a seed, beat one of her best mates -- and make sure she's got enough clothes. Mirza faces Romanian number 28 seed Sorana Cirstea in the second round -- just as soon as the pair work out whose kit is whose. French Open quarter-finalist Cirstea had to sort out her friend with some spare clothes before Mirza beat Germany's Anna-Lena Groenefeld 6-2, 2-6, 6-2. "We are really good friends. We're one of those very few who actually stay in touch even when we're not on the tour," Mirza told here. "We were joking about it just before. I didn't have any clothes and said 'can you please give me some clothes to wear'. "She said 'yes, I'll give it to you'. And I said 'yes, but if you win and I win, I play you, I'll need clothes as well!'. And she said 'I'll still give it to you!'. Sania Mirza Photo Gallery Thankfully the pair have now sorted out enough outfits to see them both through Wednesday's encounter. "We both have enough kit now. I don't need to borrow stuff from her now!" world number 85 Mirza said. But joking aside, there will be no love lost when the pair clash on court. "We're both going to try our best, obviously. You have to make a conscious effort to put a line because you are friends," the 22-year-old said, looking forward to the match. "When you go on court you are just rivals and opponents and when you go off court you're friends again. "But we're both professionals and we know where to draw the line. May the best player win." Though the pair are firm friends, they have never faced each other in a competitive match. Mirza did not have the chance to check out Cirstea's first round match as they were playing simultaneously on adjacent courts. "We've never played against each other and we've practiced just once or twice together so it's not like we know each other's game inside out," Mirza said. "I watched her play at the French Open and she has been in great form. "She's seeded. I have to play a seed in the second round so I guess I have no pressure on myself. I'm just trying to play my best. On paper, she's supposed to win. But this is tennis and anything can happen." Mirza entered the All England Club having reached the semi-finals at Birmingham, the pre-Wimbledon warm-up grass court tournament, and is confident about her form on the surface. "It's been going good. I've always liked playing on grass. It is one of my favourite surfaces and it suits my game," she said after beating Groenefeld, a one-time top 15 player ranked 23 places above her. "On grass especially, if you lose your serve then it goes off quickly sometimes. "I've tried to work on my serve a lot in the last few weeks and I feel like it's getting better every match that I play. "At 5-2, deuce, to get an ace at that point is probably something I couldn't have done a year or two ago."

 

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