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Mirza to boycott home tournaments

Tennis player Sania Mirza gestures during a media conference at her residence in Hyderabad, India, on Monday. PHOTO: AFP

India's top tennis star, Sania Mirza, will boycott all tournaments in India this year after a series of off-court controversies, disappointing officials and millions of fans.

Mirza, 21, has opted out of the country's leading tennis event -- next month's US$600,000 Bangalore Open -- saying it was becoming impossible to deal with the controversies.

"Every time I have played in India there has been some kind of problem so we just thought it was better not to play at this point," she said.

The player, who is a Muslim, has been criticized by Islamist groups for wearing short skirts while playing, and in December apologized for filming an advert near a historic mosque in her home city of Hyderabad. She also faces prison if a court rules she showed disrespect to the Indian flag during a tournament in Australia last month. Media photographs show her bare feet resting near the Indian flag.

Mirza, Asia's highest-ranked tennis player at No. 29, said she had considered quitting the game because of the rows. Tennis writers say that next month's Bangalore Open, which will be contested by Venus and Serena Williams, will be poorer without Mirza, who in 2005 became the first Indian woman to win a Women's Tennis Association title.

"Every time I have played in India there has been some kind of problem."

Sania Mirza

Sharda Ugra, who writes for India Today magazine, said: "When she plays you get a whole different crowd. I think with Sania we have seen her celebrity get bigger than her athleticism."
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