Film on Sania Mirza? Dad didn't know

The rumour mills are abuzz about a film being made on Sania Mirza by filmmaker Deepak Gandhi. The film "I For You" reportedly casts actress Esha Deol in the role of India's best tennis player.

But Sania's dad Imran Mirza said he had no idea if such a film is indeed being made.

"We only read about it in today's newspaper. Don't know if it is true," Mirza told the Indian Tennis Blog on Thursday.

Mirza said he's busy preparing Sania for her upcoming tournaments and wasn't bothered by the rumours.

"We have other more important things on our minds, like getting ready for Wimbledon and Olympics," he said.

Sandhya Nagaraj, Leander Paes reach semis, others disappoint

May 12 - May 18: Sandhya Nagaraj reaches semis at Badalona, Paes/Robredo make it to last four at Hamburg Masters, Sunitha Rao only Indian hope in French Open singles

SANDHYA NAGARAJ

After several opening round losses in previous weeks, Sandhya Nagaraj made full use of a weak draw at $10,000 ITF Badalona, Spain to reach the semifinals of the claycourt event.

The 19-year-old from Chennai beat three qualifiers along the way before losing to the fourth seed and eventual winner in straight sets.

Nagaraj, ranked as high as 511 on the WTA Tour two years ago, will be hoping to get back into the Top 600 next week.

ITF $10,000 BADALONA, Spain
(12 - 18 May 2008)
CLAY COURT
Women's Singles Semifinal
Sandhya Nagaraj lost to (4)Eva Fernandez-Brugues(SPN) 3-6,3-6

LEANDER PAES

Looks like a break from regular partner Paul Hanley did Leander Paes a lot of good. After a string of inexplicable early losses this season, Paes teamed up with Spaniard Tommy Robredo to reach the semifinals of the Hamburg Masters.

The unseeded duo beat third seeds Jonathan Erlich and Andy Ram in the second round but fell to second seeds and eventual winners Daniel Nestor and Nenad Zomonjic in the last four (See photo).

Paes later revealed that he will be teaming up with Lukas Dlouhy in the future.


ATP HAMBURG MASTERS
(11 - 18 May 2008)
CLAY COURT
Men's Doubles Semifinal
Leander Paes/Tommy Robredo(SPN) lost to (2)Daniel Nestor(CAN)/Nenad Zimonjic(SRB) 3-6,6-3,2-10

Interestingly, Mahesh Bhupathi and Mark Knowles lost their opening encounter for the second straight tournament in a row. Before their disappointments in Rome and Hamburg, Bhupathi and Knowles claimed back-to-back titles at Memphis and Dubai and were losing finalists at Miami and Monte Carlo this season.

SAIL OPEN CHALLENGER

There was also disappointment in store for those hoping for an Indian resurgence in the first of two challenger events in New Delhi. Apart from wildcard Ashutosh Singh, no other Indian (in a draw including the likes of Prakash Amritraj, Harsh Mankad and Yuki Bhambri) made it to the second round.

Ashutosh Singh jumped 38 places on the ATP rankings on Monday and is currently ranked 567.

In doubles, Prakash Amritraj and American Rajeev Ram reached the semifinals while Purav Raja and Rohan Gajjar lost in the other semifinal.

$50,000 SAIL OPEN CHALLENGER, New Delhi
(12 - 17 May 2008)
HARD COURT
Men's Singles Round 2
(WC)Ashutosh Singh lost to Colin Ebelthite(AUS) 4-6,4-6

Two of India's hopes Rohan Bopanna and Karan Rastogi withdrew from the challengers due to injury-related probems - Bopanna with a knee injury and Rastogi with a back problem.

Bopanna, who started a blog last week, achieved a career-high 50 in the ATP doubles rankings on Monday.

THIS WEEK

Tennis action continues at the second men's challenger in New Delhi but with several Indians losing in the first round on Monday, it looks as if this event will also be a no-show.

The Bhambri sisters - Ankita and Sanaa - lead a contingent of Indians at another $10,000 event in Thailand. Last week in Bangkok, Sanaa was the only Indian to reach the singles quarterfinals. The Bhambri sisters also lost in the doubles semifinals.

Navdeep Singh and Rohan Gajjar are trying their luck in the Kuwait F1 Futures in Meshref. Karan Rastogi told the Indian Tennis Blog he'll be hoping to join them at the Kuwait F2 Futures the following week.

The qualifiers at Roland Garros begin on Tuesday with no Indian representative in the men's singles. With Sania Mirza out of action till next month, Sunitha Rao will be the lone Indian hope in the singles events of the French Open.

[Update: Sunitha Rao lost in the first round of the French Open women's singles qualifying at Roland Garros on Wednesday, falling to Kristina Barrois of Canada in three sets -- 6-2,6-7(3),2-6 -- effectively ending India's interest in the singles events at this year's claycourt Grand Slam]

While Mahesh Bhupathi and Leander Paes are serious contenders in the doubles draw with Rohan Bopanna making his Grand Slam debut, Yuki Bhambri is also one of the favourites in the junior events.

On Monday, Sunitha Rao was ranked a career-high 108 in the WTA doubles list while Isha Lakhani achieved a career-high position of 291 in the singles rankings.

ATP RANKINGS (19 May 2008)
(in brackets - positions lost/gained since last week)
SINGLES
252 (-3) Amritraj, Prakash
308 (-2) Bopanna, Rohan
436 (-8) Sipaeya, Sunil Kumar
441 (+2) Rastogi, Karan
567 (+38) Singh, Ashutosh

DOUBLES
11 (-1) Bhupathi, Mahesh
24 (+1) Paes, Leander
50 (+1) Bopanna, Rohan

WTA RANKINGS (19 May 2008)
(in brackets - positions lost/gained since last week)
SINGLES
32 (+1) Mirza, Sania
156 (+2) Rao, Sunitha
291 (+4) Lakhani, Isha
399 (-20) Iyer, Tara
485 (+14) Chakravarthi, Rushmi

DOUBLES
18 (+1) Mirza, Sania
108 (+2) Rao, Sunitha
319 (-1) Iyer, Tara

Sania Mirza pulls out of French Open

India's number one tennis player Sania Mirza will not be playing at next week's French Open, her father Imran Mirza said on Monday.

The 21-year-old Sania is yet to fully recover from a wrist surgery conducted in April and is now expected to make a comeback at the $200,000 DFS Classic in Birmingham next month.

"Hopefully, she will start with Birmingham on 9th June," Imran Mirza told the Indian Tennis Blog.

Last year at Roland Garros, Sania had won a match for the first time in three tries. She then lost in the second round to eventual finalist Ana Ivanovic.

Despite her inactivity in recent weeks, Sania managed to hold on to her ranking and moved one place up to 32 on Monday, thanks to world number one Justine Henin's sudden retirement from professional tennis.

"I would say she is about 80 percent recovered," Imran Mirza had told the blog about Sania's recovery on Wednesday.

"The cast came off on the 5th but there is still a little pain in the wrist and she is still not able to bend it completely forwards and backwards due to the pain."

Isha Lakhani enters Top 300, Sunitha Rao wins at Zagreb

May 5 - May 11: Isha Lakhani wins Kerala Open, Sunitha Rao picks up doubles title at Zagreb, Paes' doubles partnership with Hanley on a break

ISHA LAKHANI

Isha Lakhani entered the Top 300 in the WTA rankings this week thanks to her runner-spot in the $25,000 Balikpapan (Indonesia) event two weeks ago and looks set to rise further after winning the Kerala Open title on Saturday. A Top 200 spot by the end of 2008 no longer seems a distant dream.

"Hitting the top 200 is achievable, it's tough but I have got to get tougher," the 23-year-old told the Indian Tennis Blog. "My temperament has improved a lot which has helped me perform, but there's always room for improvement."

$10,000 BSNL KERALA OPEN 2008, Thiruvananthapuram
(5 - 11 May 2008)
CLAY COURT
Women's Singles Final
(WC)(1)Isha Lakhani beat (6)Miki Miyamura(JPN) 6-7(2),6-2,6-4

A lack of financial backing may hinder her plan of participating in higher-level tournaments but for now Lakhani is looking forward to playing $25,000 events in Turkey and China next month.

SUNITHA RAO

The Florida-based Sunitha Rao jumped 17 places to a career-high 110 in the women's doubles rankings this week after partnering Melinda Czink of Hungary to win the title at the $75,000 tournament in Zagreb.

The second seeds did not lose a set all week.

$75,000 ZAGREB, Croatia
(5 - 11 May 2008)
CLAY COURT
Women's Doubles Final
(2)Sunitha Rao/Melinda Czink(HUN) beat (1)Stephanie Foretz(FRA)/Jelena Kostanic Tosic(CRO) 6-4,6-2

MAHESH BHUPATHI and LEANDER PAES

The ATP Masters at Rome didn't prove lucky for Indians with both Mahesh Bhupathi and Leander Paes crashing out in their opening encounters. Despite the loss, Bhupathi returned to the ATP Top 10 this week -- moving one spot up from 11 while Paes slipped one place to number 25.

Bhupathi and partner Knowles have slipped to number 3 in the ATP Doubles Race with the Bryan brothers claiming the top spot after winning at Rome.

And Paes seems to be on a break from regular partner Paul Hanley after a string of inexplicable first round losses this season. The Kolkatan has teamed up with Spaniard Tommy Robredo for the Hamburg Masters while Hanley tries his luck partnering Wesley Moodie.

ATP ROME MASTERS
(5 - 11 May 2008)
CLAY COURT
Men's Doubles Round 2
(4)Mahesh Bhupathi/Mark Knowles(BAH) lost to Fernando Verdasco(SPN)/Feliciano Lopez(SPN) 7-6(4),4-6,7-10
(8)Leander Paes/Paul Hanley(AUS) lost to Mariusz Fyrstenberg(POL)/Marcin Matkowski(POL) 6-4,3-6,6-10

MEN'S TENNIS

All eyes are on the $50,000 SAIL Open challenger in New Delhi this week. Rohan Bopanna has withdrawn with a bad knee while wildcard Yuki Bhambri lost his opening match. But Prakash Amritraj, Harsh Mankad, Ashutosh Singh and Mustafa Ghouse are still in the fray.

Navdeep Singh, Rohan Gajjar and Purav Raja couldn't work wonders at the Great Britain Futures at Bournemouth and Edinburgh. The trio will be trying their luck in the doubles draw in New Delhi.

WOMEN'S TENNIS

The Bhambri sisters - Ankita and Sanaa - lead a contingent of Indians at a $10,000 event in Bangkok this week.

Youngster Shalini Sahoo's semifinal spot at the $10,000 Kochi event two weeks ago saw her enter the Top 1000 in the WTA rankings on Monday. The 18-year-old is ranked 944, a climb of 120 spots since last week.

JUNIOR TENNIS

Disappointing result for India with our girls finishing eighth in the Asia-Oceania Junior Fed Cup girls under-16 tennis tournament in Bangkok.

ATP RANKINGS (12 May 2008)
(in brackets - positions lost/gained since last week)
SINGLES
249 (-3) Amritraj, Prakash
306 (-3) Bopanna, Rohan
428 (-8) Sipaeya, Sunil Kumar
443 (0) Rastogi, Karan
605 (-3) Singh, Ashutosh

DOUBLES
10 (+1) Bhupathi, Mahesh
25 (-1) Paes, Leander
51 (0) Bopanna, Rohan

WTA RANKINGS
(12 May 2008)
(in brackets - positions lost/gained since last week)
SINGLES
33 (0) Mirza, Sania
158 (-1) Rao, Sunitha
295 (+50) Lakhani, Isha
379 (+2) Iyer, Tara
499 (+19) Chakravarthi, Rushmi

DOUBLES
19 (0) Mirza, Sania
110 (+17) Rao, Sunitha
318 (-2) Iyer, Tara

Mahesh Bhupathi knocked out of Rome Masters

Mahesh Bhupathi and Mark Knowles were sent packing by unseeded Spanish duo Feliciano Lopez and Fernando Verdasco in a second round doubles match at the Rome Masters on Wednesday night.

The fourth seeds lost 7-6(4), 4-6, 7-10 in an hour and 35 minutes, after clawing back from 4-7 down in the final match tiebreak.

Lopez and Verdasco won a point less than their opponents but were able to convert one of two break point opportunities. Bhupathi and Knowles had ten but couldn't capitalise on any.

There had been apprehensions that Bhupathi had not fully recovered from a groin strain he picked up during the Monte Carlo Masters final last month.

The injury also forced Bhupathi and Rohan Bopanna to retire from their opening round encounter at last week's BMW Open in Munich, despite leading 6-2, 0-1.

But Bhupathi, who won the Rome Masters with Leander Paes in 1998 and with Max Mirnyi in 2004, didn't blame the injury for the defeat last night.

"I was feeling pretty good," the 33-year-old told the Indian Tennis Blog after the match.

Bhupathi and Knowles, who claimed back-to-back titles at Memphis and Dubai and were losing finalists at Miami and Monte Carlo this season, are currently placed second in the ATP Doubles Race.

Bhupathi returns to action at the Hamburg Masters next week.

Update: Leander Paes and Australia's Paul Hanley, who suffered a string of inexplicable first round losses this season, were beaten in their opening encounter at the Rome Masters on Thursday.

The eighth seeds lost to the Polish pair of Mariusz Fyrstenberg and Marcin Matkowski 6-4,3-6,6-10 in an hour and 18 minutes.

Winning Junior Davis Cup tough but you never know - Yuki Bhambri

India is now eyeing the Junior Davis Cup trophy after Yuki Bhambri and Saurabh Singh ensured the country a place in September's finals in St Luis Potosi, Mexico.

India, seeded fourth in the Asia-Oceania qualifying event in Delhi, notched up wins over Australia and Japan last week to win the regional tournament for the first time since 2004.

"Before the tournament started, I didn't really think that we would be able to qualify (for the finals), let alone beating Austalia and Japan but Saurabh did a fantastic job and put some pressure on the other teams," Bhambri told The Indian Tennis Blog.

With junior world number five Bhambri on the team and ably supported by Singh, a historic victory in Mexico isn't all that unlikely but the Delhi lad knows it's not going to be an easy task.

"I think it's going to be really tough to go all the way, there are quite a few quality teams but you never know. We have quite some time before the world group, so hopefully we will be working hard and will be able to keep up our good work," he said.

At 15, Yuki Bhambri is already touted as India's next tennis hope along with reigning NCAA champion Somdev Dev Varman. But the surprise find of the tournament was the relatively unknown Saurabh Singh.

Even Bhambri hadn't heard of him till last month.

"Although we didn't get to play a lot of matches together, I really enjoyed playing with Saurabh. In fact this was the first time I had heard of him. He really surprised us with the way he played," he said.

For now, Bhambri is busy preparing for next week's ATP Challenger tournament in New Delhi.

Titles for Karan Rastogi, Rushmi Chakravarthi

April 28 - May 4: Karan Rastogi wins Gimcheon(Korea) doubles title, Rushmi Chakravarthi picks up twin titles in Kochi, Isha Lakhani falters in Balikpapan(Indonesia) final, Mahesh Bhupathi retires hurt in Munich

Karan Rastogi added yet another doubles title to his trophy collection with a win in Gimcheon (Korea) partnering Alexey Kedryuk. The fourth seeds lost just one set on their way to victory in the $15,000 hardcourt event.

For Rastogi, the win came two weeks after he paired with Ashutosh Singh to bag the doubles title at a $15,000 event in Taizhou (China).

Although he lost his second round singles match at Gimcheon, the Mumbai lad reached the semifinals at Taizhou and said he hopes to carry the same form in the coming weeks.

"My confidence level is pretty high right now although I would have preferred the same results in singles. But I am playing well and even the doubles titles are welcome," the 21-year-old told the Indian Tennis Blog.

Rastogi has pulled out of this week's Changwon event in Korea and will reach New Delhi earlier in order to prepare for the twin challengers in the Indian capital starting next week. Prakash Amritraj and Rohan Bopanna, both struggling for consistency in singles, will also be seen in action in Delhi.

RUSHMI CHAKRAVARTHI

At 30, most players are at the fag end of their tennis career but not Rushmi Chakravarthi. The top-seeded Tamilian dropped a set in her opening singles match at the $10,000 event in Kochi but breezed through the rest of the claycourt tournament.

Ranked 518 in the world, Chakravarthi also picked up the doubles title partnering 17-year-old Poojashree Venkatesha.

Chakravarthi, who has won more singles and doubles matches than any other Indian woman, will be hoping to extend her winning streak at the $10,000 event in Thiruvananthapuram this week.

ISHA LAKHANI

Isha Lakhani was one match away from being the third Indian to pick up a title this week but Thai youngster Noppawan Lertcheewakarn was in no mood to humour the second-seeded Indian.

Lakhani, who turned 23 last week, lost 3-6,2-6 in the final of the $25,000 Balikpapan event in Indonesia. But the world number 345 will be the favourite to grab the title as the top seed in Thiruvananthapuram this week.

MAHESH BHUPATHI

For those expecting yet another tournament win for doubles specialist Mahesh Bhupathi, news of his groin strain was disconcerting. Bhupathi picked up the injury during the Monte Carlo Masters final where he and Mark Knowles lost to Rafael Nadal and Tommy Robredo in straight sets.

But Bhupathi, who crossed the 500 milestone in doubles victories at Monte Carlo, didn't use the injury as an excuse for the loss.

"Nadal played great, he was the difference in the match. They were already up a set before I got hurt so it would have been a tough task," Bhupathi told the Indian Tennis Blog.

The injury also forced Bhupathi and Rohan Bopanna to retire from their opening round encounter at last week's BMW Open in Munich, despite leading 6-2, 0-1. Bhupathi returns to action at the Italian Open in Rome this week where he and Knowles are the fourth seeds.

MEN'S TENNIS

Leander Paes and Australia's Paul Hanley, who have suffered a string of inexplicable first round losses this season, are seeded eighth at Rome.

The trio of Navdeep Singh, Rohan Gajjar and Purav Raja couldn't work wonders at the Great Britain Futures at Bournemouth and will try their luck at Edinburgh this week.

WOMEN'S TENNIS

With Sania Mirza still out of action thanks to wrist surgery, the spotlight will be on India's number two Sunitha Rao who is playing a $75,000 claycourt event in Zagreb, Croatia this week.

JUNIOR TENNIS

But there's great news on the junior front. Yuki Bhambri and Saurabh Singh led India to an impressive victory in the final of the Asia-Oceania Junior Davis Cup under-16 tennis tournament held in New Delhi. The win helped India qualify for September's Junior Davis Cup finals in San Luis Potosi, Mexico.

ATP RANKINGS (5 May 2008)
(in brackets - positions lost/gained since last week)
SINGLES
246 (+2) Amritraj, Prakash
303 (+3) Bopanna, Rohan
420 (+2) Sipaeya, Sunil Kumar
443 (+13) Rastogi, Karan
602 (+8) Singh, Ashutosh

DOUBLES
11 (0) Bhupathi, Mahesh
24 (-2) Paes, Leander
51 (0) Bopanna, Rohan

WTA RANKINGS (5 May 2008)
(in brackets - positions lost/gained since last week)
SINGLES
33 (-1) Mirza, Sania
157 (-1) Rao, Sunitha
345 (-10) Lakhani, Isha
381 (-5) Iyer, Tara
512 (-5) Bhambri, Ankita

DOUBLES
19 (0) Mirza, Sania
127 (-4) Rao, Sunitha
316 (-2) Iyer, Tara