Sania Mirza says road to total recovery tough

Sania Mirza's loss in her comeback match at the DFS Classic at Birmingham this week suggests that India's number one tennis player may need some more time to return to top form after undergoing wrist surgery.

Marina Erakovic is no pushover. After all, she won the Surbiton event last week. But Mirza's straight-set loss to the Kiwi player was still surprising.

"There is some pain in the wrist when I play particular strokes and there are still a few movements that I find difficult," Mirza told the Indian Tennis Blog via email.

"I hope to get back soon to the level I was playing at before the injury but the road to total recovery is going to be longer than I thought."

Coming just two weeks before Wimbledon, it wasn't quite the start the 21-year-old was looking forward to on her return to the WTA Tour after three months of inactivity.

To top it all, Mirza might just miss getting seeded for the premier tennis Grand Slam after slipping to 33 in the WTA rankings.

Mirza and her American partner Bethanie Mattek also lost in their doubles opener at Birmingham.

"Even though Sania's recovery has been swift, her wrist will still need some time to adapt to and to generate high intensity power in high pressured match situations," Mirza's trainer and physiotherapist Renuka Pinto said.

"The only way this can be achieved is by allowing the wrist to be exposed to match situations in a phased manner."