All eyes on Sania

sania mirza tennis star 2011

India begins its Fed Cup campaign on Wednesday staring at an uphill battle after being drawn with China, Uzbekistan and Thailand.
Sania Mirza will lead India’s challenge but the team is not likely to have much success against better opponents with Australian Open finalist Li Na (China), Mirza's conqueror in the Asian Games semi-finals Akgul Amanmuradova (Uzbekistan) and Tamarin Tanasugarn (Thailand) all likely to prove too much for India.
India’s other problem is the second player. While Mirza, now ranked 135, has been in good form almost beating Justine Henin in the Australian Open first round, there is no other Indian player ranked in the top 200, unlike the other teams who have a good second player as well.

Pooja Venkatesh is ranked 534, Rashmi Chakravarthy 574 and Ashwarya Srivastava, ranked 806 are not likely to give the opponents a run for their money.
China will be the favourite to top the group followed by Thailand but all equations could change if Li Na decided to opt out of the tournament.
The latest Chinese star had a great run at the Australian Open reaching the final where she lost to Kim Clijsters and could well opt for some rest keeping in mind the season ahead.
Though China will still remain the favourite, an upset here or there could help India gain some footing in the group.

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