Bhutto Passes the Torch

The last 24 hours have been rather sad for me. At breakfast yesterday (which occurred around 11:30 a.m.), my dad started talking about "Bhutto this; Bhutto that." I didn't pay much attention, mostly because we had just seen Charlie Wilson's War the night before, a movie which talks about former Pakistani president Zulfikar Ali Bhutto quite extensively.

But it was a couple minutes before I realized that my dad wasn't talking about the senior Bhutto, but rather his daughter, Benazir. This past fall I had become quite the fan of Benazir Bhutto. I listened to her interview on the BBC upon returning to Pakistan in October and followed the rocky situation there closely in hopes for a better future.

So when the news of her assassination came yesterday, I was in as much shock as the rest of the western world. I cannot imagine the loss and agony that the people of Pakistan feel after seeing the possibility for a new day come January's parliamentary elections.

In tennis terms, there's only one individual who comes close to being the pioneer that Ms. Bhutto was. That individual would be Sania Mirza, the 21-year-old Indian who has made as many headlines for her fashion as her forehand. If there's one positive that can come from Ms. Bhutto's death, it's that young Muslim girls throughout the world will look to her as a heroine, as someone to be emulated.

I've written quite extensively over that last year or so on Mirza. To me, she's a player with all the right ingredients: a strong build, a fierce groundstroke game, a level head on her shoulders and a nation (and world region) cheering her on. In a lot of ways, Mirza is strikingly similar to Bhutto: both raised in upper-class families that encouraged them to do whatever they pleased.

For Sania, the baseline has been her stage to the world as the podium platform was for Bhutto. Mirza's recent signing with adidas shows that the tennis world believes that the youngster is ready for the big time. And as Tennis Served Fresh blogger Erwin put it, it's time for Mirza to step up, as well.

Like Bhutto's self-imposed exile over much of the last decade, Mirza, too, must manage her schedule wisely. A 13-5 run during the summer showed us just how good Mirza can be, but her 0-3 finish to the season also proves that she just hasn't reached the level of global power that she can.

A new year always brings new challenges, new beginnings. No doubt the new year will hold both of those and more for the country of Pakistan, but so too, will it for Sania Mirza. And if she does her job right, the torch won't be dropped, and both the tennis world and the political world can call her a new heroine.

Where Are They Now? Part Four

Sybille Bammer. Not only should Bammer win the "Mom of the Year" award over one Miss Lindsay Davenport, she might also be a strong candidate for "Breakthrough Player of the Year". In her 13th year on the tour, Bammer has reached a career-high #20 in the rankings and compiled a stunning 44-23 record. At 27, I can only see it getting better for the Austrian.

Tamira Paszek. Speaking of successful Austrians, one can't forget another breakthrough player from 2007 in Paszek. The 16-year-old, in her first year of competing at the majors, went 8-4, including 4th Round appearances both at Wimbledon and the Open. She had just two losses to players outside the Top 50 this year, and gave Justine Henin a run for her money more than once.

Sania Mirza. Midway through the year I was ready for Sania Mirza to finally make her run into the Top 20. She has had inconsistent success over the last three years, and after she shook off a bit of injury and immaturity, I thought Mirza would come into her own. But that didn't quite happen...though it doesn't mean it won't. Mirza went 14-6 over the summer, and her baseline game (particularly her giant forehand) loves the hardcourts. Is 2008 her year? I'm unsure of that, but she certainly will be one to watch.

Taylor Dent. Hasn't played a match in nearly two years, but has a new web site launched by (it appears) adidas and IMG. I'm guessing if you asked Dent today, he'd tell you he's still looking to get back on the tour as soon as he can.

Vania King. King was as high as #50 in the rankings last fall after she won Bangkok, but following a year in which she lost in the first round of every major and only made the quarterfinals in Thailand, the American teenager has fallen out of the Top 100. Perhaps some time in lower level tourneys might help King find her form.

Tags for Two

For quite some time, I've been waiting to create tags for Sania Mirza and Maria Kirilenko. And yesterday, I finally felt as though their time had come.

Let's start with Mirza: Two years ago the girl from Bombay had quite the breakthrough in her home country, winning at Hyderabad as the 134th ranked player in the world. Not only did that launch Mirza into the Top 100, but she also soared into the media's radar as the Muslim girl who played tennis - and did so with an attitude.

Much of the controversy surrounding Mirza over the last two years has been just that: she was a female playing a professional sport from a country in which millions of people didn't approve of what she was doing. Not only did Mirza receive death threats, but she was told to cover up during matches, not speak her mind and to educate others around the world about the god we should all be praising.

To her credit, Mirza has stayed true to herself, her family and her career. Yes, she an 'upper-class' (read: 'rich girl') from Mumbai that honed her tennis at private clubs in an urban setting. But while much of India scowls at Mirza, she has also become an international icon. Millions of Indians watch, listen to or wait for results from her weekly matches, hoping that her powerful groundstroke game can garner her another hard-fought win.

(A Sania Mirza billboard in India, where she is - to some - a national hero. Photy by Azgar Khan via Flickr.)

After a successful 2005, in which Mirza wrapped up with a fourth round appearance at the US Open, injuries set her back and she dropped out of the Top 50 during the 2006 season. Results have been spotty: last fall, she beat Martina Hingis one week, only to lose to Olga Poutchkova and Meghann Shaughnessy the next two.

Yet following a 2nd round effort at Wimbledon, Mirza has seemed to finally take the strides toward becoming the hard court player she can be. Semis at Cincy, final in Stanford and quarters in San Diego (who does she think she is, Jankovic?). This week in LA, Mirza has already beaten Aleksandra Wozniak and Martina Hingis, and now awaits the winner Razzano/Peer.

While I've patiently been waiting for the upswing of Mirza, millions of men have been urging (and drooling for) Maria Kirilenko to break into the top tier of tennis for some time now. She's blond, beautiful, athletic and Russian - hmm, that sounds familiar, right?

Much like Mirza, Kirilenko's breakthrough season was 2005, when she shot up the rankings from #105 at the beginning of the year to #26 by season's end. She scored a win over that other Maria during the year, along with Patty Schnyder, her first Top-20 win ever.

Now with injuries behind her - the similarities to Mirza are just oozing - and a more confident, mature game, Kirilenko seems to have arrived on the WTA Tour. Last week, she scored big wins over Lucie Safarova and Jelena Jankovic (7-5 in the third) and just yesterday in LA, stunned Marion Bartoli in straight sets.

(Maria Kirilenko is 35th in the rankings and will move up after LA following her first round loss in 2006. Photo by Hugo Cura via Flickr.)

Kirilenko, whose claim to fame still remains ingrained in her looks and her Stella McCartney outfits, now takes on Gisela Dulko in the round of 16 in LA.

Can Maria of smaller stature and size seize her week? Not if Sania has anything to say about it. And, if they do meet, it'd be in the finals. Now wouldn't that be the ultimate arrival for both?