Sania out!

I was looking at Sania Mirza's draw, saw the potential second round opponent - Michaela Krajicek - and thought, there's danger! And lo and behold - Sania is out of the Australian Open. I was hoping to get to watch Sania, but the match was played during the working hours here Down Under. Darn! The Krajicek girl has been in fine form recently, and did very well in the Hopman Cup as well, playing a major role in the Netherlands making the final. Nevertheless, I expected Sania to pull through. Well, that's that. My favourite player on the women's tour - Venus Williams - is already out, dumped in the very first round, but there's still a lot to look forward to. Davenport, Sharapova and Mauresmo all look in fine form. Serena looked strange in the first round but seems to have found her groove somewhat - to be fair, Li Na (or is it Na Li?) is a pretty good player whose ranking doesn't do justice to her ability. Last year I watched Li Na take on Sharapova, perhaps in the second round, and she was clearly overwhelmed at the prospect and kept hitting it just long. But her groundstrokes looked well honed, as is so often the case with fringe players. The player that will be followed with most interest, though, is Martina Hingis. If she does half as well as she did before taking that long sabbatical, it will be a great accomplishment. There are whispers, some quite loud, that her comeback is doomed, not unlike so many others. I sincerely hope not, for Hingis brings to the tour a different dimension with her touch and clever use of the court. Her two main challenges remain the same - countering the massive power of the new generation of hitters (it's so easy to forget she herself is so young) and fitness. Hopefully, her extended holiday has solved the other problem - that of motivation. Venus was quite right in saying Hingis should be doing what she loves and does best - go out there and play as long as her body would allow it. - NK