A patch-up between Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi for the sake of country'sOlympic campaign was a bright note to end an year in which senior prosdisappointed and youngsters shone in patches.
As the Olympic year beckons, India's medal hopes got a fillip with tennis aceBhupathi announcing and Paes endorsing that they are game to shake hands andpair up for the quadrennial extravaganza.
If 2006 ended on a sour note when Lee-Hesh parted ways, this announcementbrought smiles on the faces of the game's lovers in the country.
In the year gone by, Paes and Bhupathi were nowhere near winning a Grand Slam,while Sania Mirza missed much of action with injury even though she stillmanaged a career-best singles rankings of 27.
While Paes encountered an indifferent form, particularly in the later part ofthe year, Bhupathi -- like Sania -- was forced out of action due to nigglinginjuries intermittently.
Paes and Bhupathi at least won two doubles titles each, including Master Series,but Sania failed to add to her lone WTA tour singles title.
While much cannot be complained about Paes and Bhupathi,who, having done a lot for the country, are past their prime, Sania stillcarries a big burden of hopes of a nation of one billion.
Her best chance in singles was when she reached finals of Stanford, which wasalso her first Tier II level final, but fell at the final hurdle.
However, her good run in women's doubles continued as she added four more titlesto her kitty.
A knee surgery may have kept Sania Mirza out of action for two months but acareer-best singles ranking of 27 and a number of wins over top 20 players wereenough to make her claim that 2007 was the best year of her career so far.
"It was a successful year for me - perhaps my best so far. And it was apersonal victory for me to have done reasonably despite the knee surgery thatalso took away 10 weeks from my year," Sania was to say.
The year began well for her. She reached semifinals at Hobart and Pattaya City,but had to undergo surgery on her right knee in March which kept her out ofaction for two months. But she was back in the summer hardcourt season to reachthe final at Stanford, semifinal at Cincinnati and quarterfinal in the Tier Ievent at San Diego.
She defeated as many as five top 20 players, including former number one MartinaHingis at Los Angeles. "I was playing as well when I was ranked 66 at thebeginning of the year as I was when I was ranked 27 towards the latter half ofthe year," Sania said.
At the US Open, she became the first Indian woman to be seeded in a Grand Slamevent even though her campaign was cut short in the third round.
She rose to 27 in singles ranking in August, and her four doubles titles withfour different partners ensured that her doubles ranking reached the highest of18. But the injuries were back to haunt her as the year ended, making her optout of a number of important events.Sania, however, does not think she was theonly player to face the problem and said, "One is always working towardsimproving one's game and fitness and this is an ongoing process. Every top 100player on the tour is struggling with fitness issues. Of course, Indians areprobably not as fit as the average European or American but then we have ourother strengths."
Unexpectedly, the players who were either written off ornever carried much hopes provided something to cheer about.
Rohan Bopanna had a memorable year with his maiden singles challenger win atDublin and five doubles titles, including three with PakistaniAisam-ul-Haq-Qureshi.
He also played four finals to take his doubles ranking to 66 from 116.
Tara Iyer won four USD 10,000 ITF crowns, including three on the trot and KaranRastogi ended India's 25-year long drought for a clay court title abroad bywinning in Morocco.
Tara, however, was exposed when pitted against higher ranked players. She lostin the first round in the WTA Sunfeast Open to Flavia Pennetta and her campaignat three consecutive USD 25000 ITF tournaments was cut short in the very firstround.
Fitness and consistency, pre-requisites of success in anysport, once again proved be the difference between the Indian tennis players andthe champions or good performers from other countries.
Even former Davis Cup captain Vijay Amritraj recently said "the rate ofimprovement of the foreigners is much more than the Indians."
"The standard has improved all over the world whether it be fitness or inphysique of the players. The top-100 rankings of today are comparable to thetop-50 rankings of our time," Amritraj said.
Injuries kept chasing Sania all the year, forcing her to withdraw from at leasteight tournaments and keeping her away from the court for more than four months.
Sania announced her arrival in 2005 but could not maintain the success and someargued opponents had read her game in the second season.
