Sania to team up with Pascual in Aus Open

Indian tennis star Sania Mirza will pair up with former doubles number one Virginia Ruano Pascual of Spain in the Australian Open next month.

Sania had reasonable success in the doubles events with Francesca Schiavone and Chia Jung Chuang this season, but the 23-year-old will now team up with Pascual, who has 11 Grand Slams to her name, including 10 in doubles.

"I will be playing with Virginia Ruano Pascual in the Australian Open and if we do well, we'll continue to play together," Sania said.

Sania, who won the 2009 Australian Open mixed doubles title combining with Mahesh Bhupathi, said the season gone by has been extremely good as she finished inside the top 100 for the five successive year.

"For Indian tennis, it was an extremely good year. Mahesh and I won the Australian Open mixed doubles title, while Leander won two Grand Slams in doubles. Yuki Bhambri won a junior Grand Slam and we also reached the World Group in Davis Cup after several years.

"Personally, I am happy with the way things have gone, despite some injury issues. I won my maiden Grand Slam title and finished in the top 100 for the fifth consecutive year," she said.

Asked about her most memorable match this season, Sania said, "Beating world number 12 Marion Bartoli in Osaka in singles and winning Australian Open title in mixed doubles were memorable for me."

However, the Hyderabadi reckons one title that really boosted her confidence this year was in the Lexington Challenger.

"Every title is important in building one's confidence level and since it came right after my engagement, it helped in putting a stop to baseless rumours that claimed I had lost focus on tennis," Sania said.

Considering the gruelling nature of the next season, Sania said she would be selective with tournaments next year. "Yes, I may need to be selective," she said.

Asked about her world ranking target and goals of 2010, Sania said, "For me, ranking is just a number and I believe whoever plays well on that particular day will be the winner. I'm a positive person and I think I can do well in future as well."

"My goal is always to work hard and to go on improving. If I can stay injury-free, there is no reason why I cannot better my ranking," said Saina, who is currently 58 on the WTA singles list.