Zeeshan, Nirupama to play in Dubai tennis championship

Former Indian Davis Cupper Zeeshan Ali has been given a wild card for the Dubai Tennis Championship qualifying tournament which would also feature Nirumapa Vaidyanathan in the women's section.

Zeeshan, who coaches the top UAE tennis star Oman Behroozian, will also be a practice partner for the top seed Martina Hingis in the inaugural tournament beginning here tomorrow.

Nirupama, ranked 181 in the WTA tour, beat Martina Sucha of Slovakia, ranked 112, but she will have to cross two more rounds before making it to the main draw.

Lack of professionalism and late start were the bane of Indian tennis, said Nirupama, who holds the record for being the only Indian woman to win a Grand Slam match when she reached the second round of the Australian Open.

"We do not have the mindset for sports. Very few venture to take tennis as a profession. It is a hobby for most of them and they play twice a day for a maxium of four hours. One can never become a professional tennis player with this kind of approach" she told the Gulf News.

"Indian players start playing professional tennis very late. I turned professional only when I was 18. That is too late," she said.

"I am not sponsored by anybody. Whatever I earn from this tournament will be recycled and put into the next one. I am on my own. What I also lack is a coach travelling with me. Without a sponsor, I cannot afford to travel with one," she said.