Former India Davis Cup captain Vijay Amritraj appluaded Sania Mirza's efforts in popularising tennis in India and urged fans not to judge her progress on weekly basis.
"I see nothing wrong with Sania's game. She has done remarkably well over the last two-three years," Amritraj said in New Delhi on Wednesday. "One should judge her over a whole season. As a rule, if she has five or six good weeks in a season, she can maintain her ranking.
"Indians physically mature later than other players. We should provide Sania the encouragement to be the best she can be. Whether that happens at 19 or 26, we should not be bothered," he said.
"She has already encouraged a lot of young girls to take up tennis. Now there is a larger pool of talent to choose from."
But he pointed out that it was more important to do well in bigger events such as the Grand Slams, Masters Series and Tier I events, as they carried more ranking points.
Amritraj said that the Hyderabadi teenager needed to improve her consistency at the highest level of the game.
Sania had some good results in the last few weeks, but her wins over higher ranked opponents, notably former world number one Martina Hingis in Korea, have been usually followed by reversals against players ranked below her.
"Everyone strives to be more and more consistent but very few manage that," Amritraj, who reached a career-high ranking of 13, said.
He mentioned that world number one Roger Federer was an exceptional case.
"Federer is just playing on a different planet because he never lets his physical capabilities drop.
"No one questions other top players like Rafael Nadal or Andy Roddick if their performances fluctuate, because they know that it is very tough. But Federer is head and shoulders above everyone else," Amritraj said.
He expressed concern that not many players of international class were coming up through the ranks as yet.
"Indian players are not improving at the same rate as the Westerners are," he noted, adding that India should not fall behind other Asian countries making a mark in the game.
"Tennis nowadays is basically a singles game. One cannot stay on the circuit solely as a doubles player," the former player said.
He mentioned that the doubles draws at most international tournaments were largely filled by singles players.
"Above everything else, Indians should strive to make it into the top 100 in the singles rankings.
