Sania Mirza in Australian Open Tennis 2008

Sania Mirza is one of the top seeds of Australian Open 2008. This world no. 31 has spent a successful last year reaching her career best rank 27 in August last year. Now, this 21-year-old Indian tennis star is going to begin another grand slam tournament in Australian Open. Her first round match will be against Uzbek wild card Iroda Tulyaganova, who is ranked 317^th in the WTA ranking. So, if Sania can hold her poise and play according to her merit, then she does not have any problem to win the match. Then in the second round, she will face the winner of the Timea Bacsinszky vs Sophie Ferguson match. If she can reach the third round of Australian Open 2008, she could face 8^th seed Venus Williams.

However, while the other competitors are dealing with tennis ahead of Australian Open, Sania Mirza is dealing with some off court issues.

Indiatimes reported:

Unfortunately for Sania, while she's physically fit and raring to go, her mind seems crowded and confused by a spate of recent events, including a court case for reportedly showing disrespect to the tri-colour. That it's all happening at home, despite her not putting a foot wrong, pun intended, must be particularly frustrating. Sania has had her best results when she's enjoying the load. Happy, however, doesn't describe her frame of mind as she heads into Melbourne Park. It's time then to step back and allow the girl to get on with her game.

Sania Mirza reached the quarter final of Hobart International tournament before she lost to Flavia Pennetta. Sania Mirza is going to appear in Australian Open 2008 with newly designed Addidas kits.

Fibre2fashion reported:

The attire also includes the fifth generation ‘Barricade’, the world’s largest selling Tennis shoes.
Updated with the latest in footwear technology, the shoe is lighter than ever with a snug, supportive fit.

She has recently been signed as a global ambassador of Addidas. So, expect some off court problem, Sania Mirza has the right environment to show her best in Australian Open 2008. Sania Mirza’s best ever grand slam performance was in 2005 U.S. Open. What is important is that she has been performing consistently. She marked her best Australian Open performance in 2005 Australian Open tournament reaching the third round. She is likely to face Venus Williams in the third round and it would be too much to expect that she will outperform Venus and reach the fourth round. Actually, reaching the third round and throwing some hard challenges to Venus Williams would be satisfactory for Sania Mirza.