The joys of anonymity for Sania

Teenager Sania Mirza [Images] is as famous as a Bollywood film star back home in India. At Wimbledon [Images] she revelled in her anonymity.

But she will be certain of a tumultuous welcome back in her hometown of Hyderabad after making history at Wimbledon.

She became the first Indian woman player ever to make it through to the second round of the world's most famous tennis tournament with a dogged victory over Japan's [Images] Akiko Morigami.

Then the feisty 18-year-old made US Open [Images] champion Svetlana Kuznetsova [Images] fight every inch of the way before finally succumbing in a scrappy three-set thriller on Wednesday.

In the past five months, Mirza has become a sporting idol in India, where she has to have security guards protecting her wherever she goes.

"I would prefer to stay at home rather than go out for coffee with friends," she said. "When I am sitting there, I know everyone is looking. I would rather not have a security guard look at me 12 hours a day."

"The amount of fame and adulation that I get in India is immense and I enjoy every moment of it. But sometimes it is a little too much."

"Every step I take here I enjoy. I just walk over here instead of going in the car. I cannot do that in India."

At home, she suddenly had to face the full glare of celebrity after becoming the first Indian woman to reach the third round of a Grand Slam at the Australian Open [Images] in January.

Then her one billion compatriots really sat up and took notice when she became the first woman from the sub-continent to win a WTA title -- and she did it in her hometown.

Mirza is fiercely proud of being a role model because Indian women have never matched the success of male players like Vijay Amritraj and Leander Paes [Images].

"I just hope more people can now believe that women can do it in India," she said.

"We have had a lot of men playing but not too many women. Some women didn't have the proper facilities, some probably get married early and some just don't have the financial support."

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