The New Nation - Internet Edition

AFP, London

India's Sania Mirza believes the controversies that have plagued her career have been a blessing because they have made her grow up.

Most tennis players outside the top 10 live in relative anonymity but Mirza, who set up a Wimbledon second round clash with Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez by beating Catalina Castano on Tuesday, carries the hopes and expectations of a sports-mad nation.

In just the first four years of her career, the 21-year-old has found herself in trouble time and again.

A fatwa was once issued against her by extremists angry over the short skirts she wears on court.

Then her decision to play doubles with Israel's Shahar Peer last year was met with more furious protests from religious fantatics who believed a Muslim should not partner a Jew.

That wasn't the end of her troubles after she was photographed with her feet resting on a table near the Indian flag following a Hopman Cup match in Australia.

A complaint was filed in an Indian court demanding action be taken under laws preventing insults to national honour, but Mirza strenuously denied she meant any offence.

"I just think they've made me grow up a lot more, but I don't think they've left any scars," said Mirza of her various troubles.

"I think it's all been an experience, some good, some bad. But I've come through it and I think that's the most important thing.

"Today I'm here, and I think there's nothing more I want to ask for, just to be healthy. And yeah, stay out of controversies! That's happening.

"But I think it's all been an experience, and, as funny as that sounds, I've enjoyed everything, because if I stop living my life and stop enjoying it, then I probably would have quit a long time ago."

Mirza is adamant she has no qualms about living her life in the fierce Indian spotlight.

"That's something that's been there for a while now and it's become a part of my life. It's not coping anymore. I think it's just I've accepted that that's how it is," she said.

"If you asked me the question four years ago, maybe I would have still been coping with it. But it's become a part of my life and I enjoy it.

"I love living in India and I love going back home and all those things."

Mirza is continuing her recovery from surgery on her right wrist, but she admitted she might not have come back from the operation so soon if it wasn't for the Beijing Olympics.

"My expectation of myself when I went into that surgery was that I want to be fit for Olympics," she said.

"I had a choice to sit out for four weeks and try and come back to French Open but it's not a solution.

"I just had to make a decision whether it was important for me to play the Olympics this year. Probably if it was not an Olympic year, I would have probably stayed out."

Mirza plays Spanish qualifier Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez on Wednesday for a place in the last 32.