Sania hopes to pair up with 'Hesh' in Wimbledon

Hyderabad, May 24 (UNI) India's tennis sensation Sania Mirza is hoping to partner Mahesh Bhupathi in the mixed doubles event of Wimbledon as her doubles ranking is not helping her cause in the French Open, her father Irfan Mirza said today.

Sania now stands at 37 in the doubles while Bhupathi's rank is 25.

Her father told UNI that the pair may not be able to partner each other in the French Open as the combined ranking cut to get an entry in the mixed doubles category of the tournament is around 56.

However, Sania will be teaming up with Eva Birnerova of Russia in the doubles in French Open.

Having been out of the circuit for nearly two and a half months due to injury, it has been tough for Sania to scout around for a prospective partner as most of the top players have already fixed their partners for the season, which resulted in three different partners within three weeks in Morocco, Istanbul and Paris.

Meanwhile, Mr Mirza also informed that Spaniard Gabriel Urpi, former coach of Arantxa Sanchez Vicario, will be working with Sania during the French Open.

On her post-surgery health condition, he said physically, Sania has progressed reasonably well but her total recovery before she gets back into top shape may take a couple of more months.

Further strengthening of the muscles and ligaments, supporting the knee joint, is essential before she can regain the on-court speed that she had achieved in late 2006 and early 2007 when she had her best singles results.

According to her physiotherapist Heath Matthews, the recovery of the knee, which has undergone orthroscopy following a hyper-extended ACL, is progressing well.

Though happy with her progress, Dr Matthews feels that she needs six more weeks before he can work more aggressively on adding to her foot speed.

He also said the strengthening of her knee is expected to speed up with more time spent on the court and in the gymnasium even though at times, the recuperation is painful for Sania.

UNI