Mom kept the faith in Sania

Hyderabad: Sania Mirza may have been drifting in and out of the match at the Wimbledon Centre Court during the women’s doubles final but mother Nasima stood steadfast in her belief that her daughter would come out a victor in the tense title match.

“At 5-5 in the second set, I stopped watching the match on TV and sat on our swing, praying. My younger daughter Anam kept updating the scores to me,” Nasima told this newspaper on Sunday. When Sania and Martina were 1-4 down in the second set, Anam had given up hope. “She wanted me to come back and watch the match as they ‘are anyway going to lose.’ All I could tell her was that things can change, and stuck to my position,” Nasima said.

And when the roof was closed at 5-5 in the decider, she grew much more in confidence. “I know Sania is very strong indoors, and she proved me right. They sealed the match with a 5-7, 7-6 (4), 7-5 win by the grace of God,” she modestly said.

Father Imran who is accompanying Sania in London, too kept his feet on the ground. “This is the big one and completes Sania’s set. The women’s doubles and the Wimbledon titles were missing from her Grand Slam collection. It’s nice that now she’s won all the Slams and is ranked No.1 in world doubles. This performance will keep her in the top spot for the next four or five months at least,” he said.