I am not going to pose in a bikini: Sania

Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) -- Home > Top Stories > Sport : "I don’t think Sachin needs any more money. First thing is, I don’t really care about money. Even today, I don’t exactly manage my money. My parents do everything. I don’t even know how much the tickets cost. So I am not really a money-minded person. I am playing tennis right now for the passion, and because I love the game so much.

It’s not just the nose-ring, which, I think, will become a huge fashion statement.

I don’t know. I have had this a long time now. But yes, I am very conscious of my Indian identity. I am very proud to be an Indian.

They should respect people’s flags, and they should respect whichever country they come from, whether it is a tennis-playing country or a non tennis-playing country. I was very furious. Two years later, when I won it... I am sure they are not going to forget the Indian flag for a long time now.

I pray five times a day. I am very conscious about the pillars of Islam. I know my Indian culture, I know what my background says. You know, I do advertisements and stuff like that but if you ask me to pose in a bikini I am not going to do that. My religion doesn’t permit it, nor do a lot of other things.

You are a religious family but not conservative.

We are conservative too, but to some extent. I mean, maybe the dresses I wear are not exactly right, but I guess Islam does have forgiveness. I don’t know if I am doing anything wrong... I am sure God will forgive me.

Well, when I am training, I get up at six in the morning. I am at the courts by 7:15 am, warm up, practice till about 9:30-10 am. I come back, have breakfast, go to college, do whatever little work I have in college. Then by 2 pm, I have to come back. I am back at the tennis court at 2:30 pm, have lunch, maybe in the car or something. I come back at 6 pm, go to the gym, then return by 7:30 pm. I am dead by 7:30 pm, sometimes I may go for a massage after that, or I am just asleep by 10:30 pm.

train with a guy called Fayaaz, he is from EST — that’s Azharuddin’s gym here. My physiotherapist, well, the Indian cricket team’s, actually the Hyderabad cricket team’s is Mr Badrinath. He’s treating me right now, I did take a stint with Andrew Leipus too, but he is not here any more so...

In terms of points, I need about 300 more points to get into top 50. Just by these two tournaments, I think I have got about more than 150 points. If I have a couple of more tournaments like these, anything can happen. But it could also happen that I have a bad phase and I don’t play like this. But it’s okay, I am not going to be disappointed. Of course, I am going to be a little upset, but I guess that’s just a part of it.

I am not much of a touch player. I am a very offensive player. I don’t like drop shots and chip-and-charge, you know. I am more of the hitting kind, the winning kind.

My ambition, to be honest, is to be in the top 25. Because I believe in being realistic. Maybe if I get into the top 25 in the next two years, maybe then I would say that I want to get into the top 10.

You are carrying so much hope and expectation you know. You saw the crowds you had, and now you know that you are a star. You can’t hide from the fact. How much more pressure does it bring on you?

It definitely brings a lot of pressure on me. People are always expecting much more from me than what I actually can do, I feel. And till now, I don’t know how I have always lived up to a lot of expectations, maybe not to all of the people’s but to a lot of expectations. So, I am very happy at the way I have come through in my career till now. But the pressure is always going to be there, I guess. It’s just a part of it... "

India's tennis sensation tells Shekhar Gupta, Editor-in-Chief of The Indian Express, that her love and passion for tennis holds centrestage in her life.