Sania’s fall from ‘August’ grace

August will be a month tennis star Sania Mirza will not be able to forget. Three years ago, in this very month, the Hyderabadi ace had hit a career high WTA ranking of 27 in the world and was soon the unstoppable star on the international circuit. And this year, in the same month she has hit the lowest in the last 5 years. It is a fall... a fall that is testing the gravitational forces... A fall that has baffled one and all..

Sania's fall from grace

Year	Ranking
2005	31
2006	66
2007	32
2008	99
2009	58
2010	153*

*As of August 9th, 2010
The immediate impact of the slippage is set to reflect on her entry into big Grand Slam tournaments including the US Open beginning at the end of this month. A player needs to be inside the top 120 to have any chance of a direct entry into a Grand Slam. This effectively means that Sania would now need to rely on qualifying rounds or hope for a wild card from the organisers. Ironically, this is the first time Sania will not get an automatic qualification into a Grand Slam tournament since making her GS debut in 2005.

Even as tennis lovers are hoping Sania's fall is only temporary, the road to recovery will not be an easy one. Sania will now have to forget playing big tournaments and rather start playing in challengers to gain some points to move up the ladder again. She can take heart from the fact that many tennis stars in the past too have engineered great comebacks. Given the Indian icon's never-say-die attitude and a 'sport'ing husband in Shoaib Malik, the task only becomes less difficult at least mentally.
After all, behind every dark cloud there is a silver lining. Who knows! Sania mania could come back with the same roar again..