India proved a lot in Hopman Cup: Sania

PERTH: After scripting the team's golden run in the Hopman Cup, tennis ace Sania Mirza felt India has proved quite a lot in its maiden Hopman Cup appearance and should not be asked to play the qualifiers next year.

"One request to (tournament director) Paul (McNamee) is that maybe we shouldn't play the qualifiers next year," she said after the match on Thursday.

Beaten 1-2 by Spain yesterday, India fell just short of reaching the finals, following the win against Czech Republic and Croatia.

After the match, Sania patted teammate Rohan Bopanna and said she had great fun in the tournament. "It was great fun. I would like to thank my partner for playing. He was great. We still have an undefeated mixed doubles record."

India began with a 2-1 win against Czech Republic in Group B with Sania winning her singles and then joining Bopanna to clinch the mixed doubles.

In their second match, the Indians survived some torrid moments before upstaging Croatia 2-1. Against the Ancic siblings Mario and Sanja, it was Sania's singles win and the victory in mixed doubles, which decided the tie.

India, however, didn't prove third time lucky and went down 1-2. For the first time, Sania lost a singles match in the tournament to Anabel Medina, who is going to be her doubles partner in Australian Open.

Bopanna proved no match for much higher ranked Tommy Robredo in the men's singles but the Indians did manage to sign off with a win in the mixed doubles.

Sania was quite elated with her performance, "I'm feeling good with the ball. I was unlucky today with a few points. Congratulations to Spain. I think they deserved to win. They obviously played very well. It was the first time I played against Anabel, my partner for the Australian Open."

Bopanna said Sania had a wonderful tournament. "It has been a really good experience. Sania always got the 1-0 lead except today. I think she just had too much pressure on herself. She has done very well in the whole tournament," he added.