Mirza Back Where It Began

From The Age: One in a billion

As India's highest-ranked female player in history, Sania Mirza already has learnt to shut out the expectations of a nation. But her game may yet be big enough to carry its hopes, Rohit Brijnath writes.

Sania Mirza had seen it before, like every Indian had, had watched Indian cricketers journey in a blink from anonymity to adulation, short expeditions to fame so fast, so exaggerated, so exhausting it made the head swim. Still, for all the watching, nothing prepares you for this sweet chaos, this beautiful, bizarre altering of an existence.

In the map of her life, Australia will always be a significant destination for Mirza, the No. 32 seed at this year's Australian Open, because right here at Melbourne Park, 12 months ago, the first warnings of a life forever changed arrived.

When, relatively unknown, she became the first Indian woman to reach the third round of a grand slam tournament against Serena Williams, the calls began. A drip became many, became a flood.

"I had no idea where they (the press) got my number from and I had to switch my phone off," she explained two days ago. It was the beginning...