Hyderabad: Tennis ace Sania Mirza, Bollywood actress Neha Dhupia and WTA Asia-Pacific vice-president Melissa Pine hit a few balls and shook legs at the Sania Mirza Tennis Academy here on Tuesday. Their effort was to attract and inspire youngsters to take up the sport.
The WTA Future Stars clinic saw kids lap up the fun even as there was many a hidden talent among the happy faces that bounced about. The kids were imparted some raquet skills by Melissa and Sania as they spent some quality time on the court.
Tennis kids are delighted as Sania joins them in a jig at the SMTA in Hyderabad.
Sania saw a bright future for the game in India. “We should look at it with hope, that’s what we are trying to do and we still need time to make it to the next level, especially among women. We have Karman (Kaur Thandi), Prarthana (Thombare) and Ankita (Raina) who can do better with their rankings. Having said that we still need a big jump. Hopefully, it will happen,” she said.
Sania was all energy as she got on to the court and pepped up the kids as she led them through various activities.
Bollywood actress Neha Dhupia dances with the kids at the WTA Future Stars clinic.
Sania also lauded the Indian women’s cricket team that finished runner-up at the recent ICC World Cup. “I am really proud of the Indian women’s cricket team. I really hope this euphoria should continue and shouldn’t die just because they lost the final. As women, everything is little harder for us but it’s absolutely worth it,” she said.
Melissa was upbeat about the growth of the game as well. “The interest in WTA Future Stars is growing linearly as this year there are 21 countries taking part,” she said.
“India is doing exceptionally well in Future Stars as its players are emerging champions ever since the first edition of the event. Well, there is a lot of potential as this sport is growing in the country,” Melissa added.
For her part, Neha Dhupia praised Sania for her support and encouragement in developing the game in the country. Speaking of Sania, she said: “She is a leader of cause and the cause is development of tennis in India and she represents women like anyone else.”
