Indian tennis ace Sania Mirza feels Ankita Raina’s performance in the recent Fed Cup was encouraging but the team must progress to the next level.
India retained their place in the Asia/Oceania Group 1 with a 2-0 win over Chinese Taipei in the Fed Cup relegation play-off last week. India had lost to China and Kazakhstan in the competition.
“We have always come back empty handed. We see great progress in young talent but never make the next jump. That is something we are totally missing,” said Sania on Tuesday.
“It is very encouraging to see Ankita have those couple of wins against the top 100 players. Even though they came out on the losing end of the tie you still have to take the small positive out,” she added.
Asked about who has the potential to be the next Sania, the 31-year-old said the she should not be the benchmark for the upcoming talent.
“I have been asked about who is the next Sania for many many years and I have always said why next Sania? We should try to aim better than Sania. Why just me.”
“Women’s tennis has unbelievable depths and therefore you see many low-ranked players defeating a world No 5 or a No 2. Serena will be back and I think she’s the greatest tennis player we have ever had,” Sania added.
