Sania can break into top 20: Piperno

Mumbai, Aug 9 (UNI) Indian Fed Cup coach Enrico Piperno today said that he believed Sania Mirza has the capability of breaking into the top 20 of women's tennis, but the Hyderabadi teen needs to work hard on her poor serve.

Speaking at the National Sports Seminar organised by the Sports Journalists Federation of India (SJFI) here today, Piperno said the first time he saw Sania she was just 13 years of age, but he knew that India had a future star in the making after seeing her blistering forehand.

Piperno, who had coached Mahesh Bhupathi in the past, however cautioned that for her dream of breaking into the top echelons of the game, she needs to work on her serve, which continues to be the weak point and also on her strategy of approaching the points.

He said that unfortunately some errors in her serve which should have been eliminated by the time she was 13-14 years have stayed on and now she would have to work doubly hard for that.

Piperno, however was confident that Sania could do just that and make a bigger name for herself and the country.

The Fed Cup coach also pointed out that Sania is an instinctive player and after her first year, the other players have sorted her out. It looks like she does not have a second line of strategy and this is hurting her in the big matches, he pointed out.

Piperno also said that the need for Sania at the moment is for a coach who is a respected figure and can help her in having different strategies for different occasions. At the moment, all she has are hitting partners whom she feels confident about.

He however said that the lass from Hyderabad was an extremely confident player with good temperament and this would take her far, Piperno added.

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