Sania Mirza has announced her coming of age by winning her second successive $25,000 ITF title in Lagos, Nigeria, last week.
The back to back titles, combined with her maiden appearance in the final of a similar event in New Delhi in August, marks Sania's successful transition from a promising potential to a true champion.
She was already ranked 233 in the WTA list, a huge leap of over 200 places from 435 where she was placed in June this year. And the second title in Nigeria, which was her 12th career singles, is bound to push her into the top 200.
Sania has won six titles in 2004 alone, the first season she began playing on the seniors' circuit. Those half a dozen included her maiden triumph in the US when she won a $10,000 title at Boca Raton, Florida, in February. She also won three similar titles on the trot in Italy and England in August.
Add to it the five doubles titles, Sania's all round capability can be easily gauged.
There has been a significant jump in Sania's graph since she began training under Bob Brett in Italy.
The most significant improvement has come in her fitness which was clearly evident when she reached her maiden $25,000 final in New Delhi two months ago.
With monsoon rains throwing the tournament schedule in disarray, Sania had to play more than five matches in three days. And she measured upto the task with admirable grit as she came close to winning both the doubles and singles titles.
Come November, Sania will be 18 and free of WTA restrictions in tournament play.
What more, she could in all probability kick-start the 2005 season, when she will have turned 18 and so will be free to play any number of tournaments, with a main draw entry into the Australian Open in January.
That magical moment in Indian tennis could come true when Tennis Australia officially hands over Sania a wild card.
The former Wimbledon junior doubles champion was the singles runner-up at the Asian Tennis Championships in Uzbekistan last month.
The event awards a wild card for the Australian Open to the singles winners. But with Na Li of China, who beat Sania in the final, waltzing up in the WTA rankings to gain a direct acceptance, the courtesy could be extended to the Indian prodigy.
The Chinese girl herself has been on a stupendous run and by all means she should keep her top-100 ranking and be within the cut-off limit of the year's first major which is claiming itself to be the 'Grand Slam of the Asia-Pacific'.
Not since Nirupama Vaidyanathan in 1996 has an Indian woman ranked in the top-200 in singles.
Nirupama was also the first and only Indian girl to have played in a Grand Slam so far, and incidentally her main draw appearance was also courtesy of a wild card in 1998 when she was the highest ranked Asian.
The Coimbatore girl went on to register her first win in a Grand Slam round. Indian fans will be hoping Sania would emulate or better that feat.
