Sania Mirza points to systemic gaps in Indian tennis

Tennis is early into its 2026 season, and the 'Happy Slam' or the Australian Open is just around the corner. To the never-ending disappointment of Indian fans, there will be no Indian representation in the singles draw once again, but Yuki Bhambri and Niki Poonacha will separately compete in the men's doubles.

Apart from them, Arjun Kadhe and Rithvik Choudary Bollipalli are kept as alternatives if two of the pairs withdraw from the men's doubles draw. Unfortunately, there will be no women's player in action in the women's and mixed doubles, once again reminding the fans of the void left by Sania Mirza.

The six-time Grand Slam winner, who will once again return to the expert panel for the Australian Open on Sony Sports Network, shared her thoughts on the sorry state of Indian tennis during an interaction with select media outlets. Below are the excerpts.

So, what is your most memorable moment from the Australian Open?

I have been very fortunate, obviously, to have very special memories at the Australian Open. Because a lot of my firsts came at the Australian Open, but a lot of my lasts also came there. But it's very hard for me to pick because I have won grand slams, I have won the women's (doubles 2016) and I have won the mixed (2019).
But for me, I think, the most special memory where everything began and happened was when I played Serena Williams in 2005. I think that was the beginning of me and everything that followed after that.

So, even though I won much bigger matches after that and won grand slams, won the Australian Open so many times after that. For me, playing Serena and walking on that Vodafone arena at that point (now known as John Cain Arena). To walk on that arena as an 18-year-old will always be something that still gives me goosebumps.

Can you tell us a bit about the non-participation of Indian players in a big circuit like the Grand Slams?

I think that it's been coming for a while, right? This is not the first time that this has happened over the last couple of years. Because we did have Sumit (Nagal) over the last few years. I am talking about singles, obviously. But after he (Sumit) had a certain amount of injuries and stuff, he kind of dropped out of that block. And then it got really, really tough. So, it is very unfortunate, but it's not surprising, per se. Because players are not born overnight. There are things that happen, and things have to fall into place. And it takes generational hard work, commitment and systems to have players come out at the highest level of any global sport year after year.

And obviously, that's something that we have not been able to do in singles. And there was a big gap between myself and another person playing the singles main roles on a regular basis. And we had obviously hoped that Sumit would be that guy and he did. But unfortunately, his body possibly didn't allow him. That was a bit of a setback. It is very unfortunate that we are going into another slam without any participation and representation of India in women's or men's singles.

Who do you see as India's best bet to win the Grand Slams consistently after the likes of you, Leander Paes, Mahesh Bhupathi and Rohan Bopanna. And how long may it take?

I think that's kind of what it is, right? I mean, the fact is that we have been talking about the same conversation for many, many years, right? That 'who after you', I have been answering the same question and we have come up with some names. You know, there were some names that would sparkle for some time.
We would talk about how good they are. And then for some reason or another, there would be something that would not go. Whether it was injuries, finances or everything together. So, I do feel that we have had a very big void in Indian women's tennis because we were hoping that after the rise over 20 years ago, that I had. We were hoping, like other countries, we would have a line of young girls who would follow. And unfortunately, that didn't happen.

You want to look at the younger girls. But right now, I feel that Maya (Rajeshwaran) is somebody that we are looking at. Shrivalli (Bhamidipaty) is somebody that we are looking at who are the younger ones. Maaya, obviously, being the youngest. But Shrivalli is about 22. She hits the ball, is a ball striker. You know, I was at a tournament with her just now I saw her having a chat with her. So, I do feel that we, you know, we are trying to do what we can to create a system within a system.

What do you feel is the reason behind India not being able to find a big tennis player in the country? Especially when we have more facilities than before?

It's not so simple for players to come to Grand Slams overnight and I don't know what the facilities are. From what I see, there is no system where we fall back and say, we follow this system. The federation shows us what to do and what not to do.

Everybody is doing what they think is right individually. From wherever a player has come, whether it's me, Ramesh Krishnan, Vijay Amritraj, Leander, Mahesh or Rohan, we have all come out of not a system. We have come out individually. And it still remains the same.