Surfing high on a wave of adulation and hype, Sania Mirza tumbled to a straight-set defeat against 16-year-old Michaella Krajicek of the Netherlands in the second round of the Australian open. Sania wrote in her colum that ‘a little breeze’ upset her timing and that she did not have the ‘feel of the ball’ on a ‘frustrating day’. In the intensive heat she may have found a ‘light breeze’ refreshing had she won.

She may have had an off day, as all players do. But I have a suspicion that the pressure of lofty expectations is getting to Sania, specially the fear of defeat to a lower-ranking player. These two factors may also have affected her game. There is a world of difference in your standard of play when you have nothing to lose and can play with abandon and when you have everything to lose.

The tension affects your movement and reflexes. Just compare Sania’s matches last year against Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova and her performance against Krajicek. You can see the difference in the standard of play.

The great Vijay Amritraj never came to terms with this. He was a different player when he took on the likes of Borg and Connors and tended to ‘clamp up’ against lower-ranked players. Expectations of Grand Slam success are not close to reality and a crushing burden for Sania to carry. We can treat Sania’s early loss like a stock market ‘correction’. It is no way a reflection of her potential.

The top notchers in women’s tennis are wary of her and Sania, with luck, has the game to beat some of them. But tackling the host of youngsters on the way up and older experienced players will be a more difficult task.

One cannot get to the top without being severely pummelled in the gauntlet of the various tournaments on the circuit. Climbing higher from rankings between 20 and 30 is like facing a sheer cliff. While you try to drive the pitons into the rock, other hopefuls are trying to pull you down. The second year on the circuit is the most difficult. At the end of the first year all the players know your weaknesses and strengths and how best to tackle your game.

It will be expecting too much from any coach, even from Tony Roche, to change her service action in just a fortnight or teach her to attack and volley. Frankly speaking, it seems nearly impossible to change her service action when she is already 19 years of age.

If you watch Sania’s service action in one of the TV ads she features in, you may be able to spot the glitch in her shoulder rotation. If she tries to change, she will need to take off atleast three months and will lose valuable points and plummet in the rankings.

At best they can try to make adjustments rather than completely change and help her to develop variety and depth on her service. To make up for the loss in service power, Sania needs to develop a higher level of consistency on her ground shots. One imperious shot is not enough.

She will need to scramble helter skelter and grind out and win points after long rallies. All this will require higher level of strength and fitness. The promising teenagers one sees nowadays seem to be stronger and far more athletic than Sania. The ace up Sania’s sleeve is her ability to hit clean winners.

Elena Dementieva is a top tenner with a poor serve. She overcomes a peculiar sliced serve dotted with double faults with her rock solid consistent ground shots, unbelievable tenacity and physical strength. I am sure in a couple of years if Sania can persevere, at a level beyond the word, she can climb higher in the rankings. Till then, Sania will have losses to lower-ranked players but may also beat some top notchers.