UNI 
 
Hyderabad, Dec 27: Fresh from her medal winning performance in the Doha Asian Games, tennis star Sania Mirza on Wednesday said she hopes to erase the bad memories of 2006 with a good show in 2007 in the month-long tour of Australia.

Talking to UNI before leaving for Perth to represent India in the mixed Hopman Cup main draw, Sania said, '' I will start on a fresh note in 2007. I want to forget the bad year in 2006 with a good show in Australia.''

Asked about India's winning chances in the main draw of the Hopman Cup, Sania who is currently ranked 65 in the world, said ''It's a very tough draw. We are entering the main draw as underdogs.

Having the top pairs from around the world, it would be too much to expect a victory against them.'' Sania, partnering Rohan Bopanna had won the Asia-Hopman cup in November 2006 and qualified for the main draw. She is happy with her fitness level.

"My fitness has improved with Hieth Mathews, the South African trainer working with me for the past one and half months. I think my speed and strength are much better now,'' she said.

"The results showed in the Hyderabad leg of Hopman Cup and in Doha where I won a Gold and two Silvers. We are still working on the exercises for further improvement,'' she added.

Twenty-year-old Sania who began her journey in international tennis with a junior doubles title at Wimbledon and turned pro in 2003, has more doubles victories than singles said, ''That may be because of fitness problems. In singles I need to cover the entire court where as in doubles it's not like that. With the improvement in my fitness levels, I am more confident that I can do better in singles too in the coming days.''

During the month long engagements in Australia, Sania will first stop at Perth for the Hopman Cup and move on to Hobart to play in tier IV $ 1,45,000 Moorilla Hobart International tournament where she has to play in the qualifying event beginning on January 5 if she is not given a wild card entry.

Sania will be taking part in singles and doubles in the Australian Open from January 15 at Melbourne. Besides singles she will take part in the doubles partnering the 27th ranked Anabel Medina Garrigues of Spain.

Speaking about Anabel, Sania said, ''Interestingly, I will be fighting against Anabel in the Hopman Cup, where the Spaniard along with Tommy Robredo is seeded second and are in Group B, Czech Republic and Croatia are the other two teams.''

"We have our first match against third seeded Czech Republican pair of Lucie Safarova and Tomas Berdych on December 31, and our next match will be against Croatian pair of Sanja Ancic and Mario Ancic on January 3, 2007. The final Group-B match is against second seed Spanish pair of Anabel Medina Garrigues and Tommy Robredo is on January 4, she said.

Sania is undaunted about the tough competition at the top level in women's tennis. ''You know that pretty much before entering the arena. You have to live with it. Anybody from the top 50 can win on their day. You cannot take anyone lightly. The competition is severe since the last two years, with everyone playing with full fitness level'', she observed.

"My parents and friends are my first supporters. When I was in poor form and was also down mentally, they helped me to regain confidence and the mental strength. Unless you are mentally strong and healthy you cannot concentrate on the game,'' she said.

Replying to another question she said, ''I have no complaints on spending more time on the tennis courts. I enjoy every bit on the court and off it. Otherwise, I cannot keep myself happy. I will always try to give 100 per cent when I am playing.''

Summing up her career in 2006 Sania said, ''there were lots of ups and downs, but in the end I was happy to regain my form and putting up a better show in the Hopman Cup and the Asian Games. I had a couple of good victories against top level players, including world no 8 Martina Hingis. I could not live up to too many expectations in singles at Sunfeast Open in Kolkata. But I think I satisfied the crowd by putting up a better performance in the doubles and winning the title in the company of South African Liezel Huber.''

Though Sania says she has no specific ambition, she wants to brake into top 20. ''That would ease the pressure on me. But again all our wishes may not be realised,'' she said.

Sania Mirza had recently anchored ESPN's 'Yearender' programme, which drew good response from the tennis fraternity, who wished that she would be able to bring home happy memories.