That Sania Mirza had an amazing 2007 is no secret alright, but her success in doubles actually far outweighed her singles achievement. Sania's five top-20 wins helped her finish her third year on the Tour ranked 31 in the world. But her four titles in doubles, all with different partners, took her ranking to a career-high 18.

In the Garden City for pre-season training at the Tennis Village, the 21-year-old Sania said matter-of-factly that playing singles is still her priority in a tete-a-tete with the media.
Excerpts:

Is doubles a priority?
I'm still very young to think about becoming a doubles player. My priority has always been singles. Just because my ranking is better in doubles does not mean I'm concentrating on doubles. I think doubles comes more naturally to me. It is obviously lot easier to play doubles because it is not so physical. It is very important for me to play doubles, but if I have a choice to be No 1 the world in singles and doubles (laughs), I would be No 1 in singles.

I don't have a partner for the year. In Australia, I'm playing with (Maria) Kirilenko. That's about it. It is hard to find a partner for the year because I am concentrating on singles. The doubles players want to play certain tournaments and it is very hard to get a consistent partner. Probably next year, I want to cut down on the amount of doubles I'm playing. Try and mix it a lot.

Your thoughts on teaming up with Bhupathi in the mixed doubles…

It is an honour to play with Mahesh, I think for anyone. He is one of the greatest ever doubles players in the world and it is great because he is Indian. We have this great relationship on and off the court. We are looking forward to the Aussie Open.

How different it is playing with Bopanna, Bhupathi or (Leander) Paes?

I enjoy playing mixed doubles because the man does most of the work (laughs). Me and Rohan have not lost a mixed doubles match in our lives. I still say me and him are the ultimate mixed doubles pair, because we have not lost a match yet! That's starting from when I was 14. We won the Nationals together, then all the Hopman Cup matches.

With each of them it is really different. Leander is a very different player to what Mahesh is and Rohan is a completely different player again. But I played well with all of them. So, I guess I'm easy to get along with!!

Your mindset changes a little bit with each of them. When you are playing with Leander, he doesn't have a big serve but he is unbelievable at the net. When you're playing with Rohan, we get a lot of cheap points on his serve and there is very little chance of him getting broken. When you are playing with Mahesh, you know he has a great return. All of them have their strengths and it is just about adapting I guess.
When you are on the court you are not thinking about that they have achieved. Of course, there is a sense of respect that you have on a personal level and respect them for whatever they have done.

How do you plan to kick-start the new season?

I'm playing the Hopman Cup (mixed team competition) first. I think it is a great way to start the year. Everyone is coming off a break and it is a good way to ease into the year and then get into really competitive tennis. It is obviously great match practice. I think last year me and Rohan (Bopanna) really played well. We enjoy playing with each other. It is very good, pretty relaxed and competitive at the same time. We're looking forward to it and doing well again.

How tough it is to deal with pressure?

I would be lying if I say it (pressure) doesn't affect me at all. We are all humans. Every time you switch on the TV, if they are saying something about you and you open the newspaper and something is written about you. It's very hard to deal with that. Over the years, I've learnt to shut it out more than I could earlier. That's what experience teaches you. I listen to those opinions that matter to me. People expect a lot of things from sportspersons who have achieved something. If I lose to someone in the top-20, it is not supposed to happen because Sania has beaten four or five players in the top-20. It does go on at the back of your mind, but you try and shut it out as much as possible.

Did you do anything different on your serve in the summer, anything you'ld like to carry into the new year? 

I think I just got stronger. Then there is a whole lot of technical stuff that comes with getting stronger. All your body mechanics fall into place. Of course I've worked a lot on my serve and I knew at some point things will have to start falling into place, and they did in the summer. Now I feel like I'm serving better than I did in the summer. I have accepted that it will never be my strength. It will always probably be the weakest part of my game relatively, but I'm going to try and make it as good as I can.

How strong is your backhand compared to your forehand?

I think my forehand is still my bread and butter shot. If I have to choose between hitting the forehand and backhand, it will be my forehand because that is where I feel I'm going to get the winner from. I think what happens is when you're playing so many matches, people think that we can't beat her on the forehand so they go for my backhand and if you are playing 100 backhands and eight forehands, obviously you are going to start improving on the backhand. That's what match practice does. I think my backhand is not a weakness.

What do you need to do to take your game to the next level?

I don't think it is just one key factor. At the beginning of the year (07), I was doing exactly the same thing that I was doing at the end of the year. People were saying how bad I was playing and how I need to do this and do that. By the end of the year, I was doing exactly the same stuff. It's just that I was getting the results.

Clearly there is no key as to what you have to do to break into the next level. Of course, I have to improve my serve and my fitness. I can probably pinpoint a lot of things, but that is something that I have to improve until the day I retire. I have to improve my fitness, I have to try and stay injury free. That's my main goal for 08, to not to lose 3-4 months to injury. It can cost you.

Gamewise, do you have anything new for 2008?

Well, I would like to add a few things to my game. Maybe the slice and coming to the net. I'm trying to add few things to my game so yes there maybe some surprises in store.