Self-belief, Sania’s mantra for success

 New Delhi, April 13

“One last thing I'd like to tell all the young girls — Believe. Believe in yourself so strongly that the world can't help but believe in you too,” she added.  The tennis ace also thanked her family, friends, coaches and supporters who believed in her. “I want to thank my family, my loved ones, friends, my coaches over the years, my partners who believed in me and supported me,” Sania said.

“All these years… this is a dream come true. I also want to thanks the people who didn't believe in me. You just pushed me harder and made me more determined to fulfill my dreams,” she added.

Sania and her Swiss partner Martina Hingis achieved the numero uno rankings after beating the Aussie-Croatian pair of Casey Dellacqua and Darija Jurak 6-0, 6-4 on Sunday to win the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) Family Circle Cup. 

She officially became the first Indian woman tennis player to be ranked world No. 1 in doubles after the WTA unveiled its latest list on Monday. The Indian ace has risen three rungs in the charts with 7660 points to dethrone Italy's Sara Errani (7640 points). The jump follows her stupendous title win at the WTA Family Circle Cup with partner Martina Hingis in Charleston. Sania took 470 points from the win in the official list.

Before Sania, only Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi had achieved the top rank when they dominated men's doubles circuit in the '90s. — IANS