Mumbai: Ace tennis player Sania Mirza is geared up to represent the country in next month’s Olympics but she refused to predict winning a medal in the Rio Games.
Sania will pair up with young Prarthana Thombare in women’s doubles and with Rohan Bopanna in mixed doubles in the Games, and she says she will prepare for the Olympics the same way she does for every big tournament.
“You try and play every tournament, play every match at merit, give your best and hopefully come back with a medal.
If you don’t (win a medal) then you try again. You cannot sit and predict what is going to happen,” she told PTI in an interaction when asked about chances of clinching a medal in Rio.
Sania’s autobiography ‘Ace against odds’ was launched by Bollywood superstar Salman Khan here last night.
Asked about her chemistry with Bopanna, Sania said, “It’s been very good. Me and Rohan have known each other for a very long time, we have played a lot together. So we are looking forward to playing together in Olympics.”
The women’s doubles world number one player said one has to inspire himself or herself to achieve success in the Olympics but the biggest inspiration was to play for the country.
“You have to be your own inspiration, you have to be there because you want to be there (in the Olympics). The biggest inspiration is for playing for your country and there cannot be bigger inspiration than that,” she said.
Sania, however, said that she was not preparing differently for the Olympics.
“As tennis players, we can’t really prepare (ourselves) for one thing that comes you know. I am playing in Canada a week before the Olympics. This will be my third Olympics, we prepare for it the same way we prepare for every big tournament that we play, be it Wimbledon or US Open. So, we are looking forward to it,” said the 29-year-old. (PTI)