Very Indian, so uber cool

April 26, 2006

After her exploits at the Fed Cup in Korea, DNA caught up with the 23-year-old Shikha Uberoi and quizzed her about tennis, Sania Mirza and of course her celeb brother Viveik.

An Indian first
I was born here and India is very much a part of my life. Maybe for Neha it is different (coz she was born in the States) but for me, it is the way I am. I wanted to be in the heart of India and I feel Im slowly getting there. The people here are very emotional as compared to the Americans, and every time I disappoint them I feel like saying sorry.

The player
I feel Im improving every year, though Im not setting any goals.I enjoy playing both singles and doubles but because of my ranking I dont get many opportunities to play the doubles. I would say if Im a teenager in singles, in doubles Im just a six-year-old.

My brother Viveik
When he was studying in the US, we had great fun. But I have still not managed to go for any of his shoots and neither has he been able to come to watch me play (though I did invite him to the Sunfeast Open). I love watching his movies, Company and Masti, in particular. I am also looking forward to Pyare Mohan.

Sania, no problem
Sania is a fantastic person. As a player, shes great and the results she has achieved so far show her tremendous potential. It was a pity we couldnt play in the Fed Cup last year but we hit it off this year.

Im happy with the way my career has progressed so far. Whatever she has achieved is only on the basis of her performances. Even if the others had got similar opportunities, maybe they couldnt have achieved the same results.

Venus, the good Samaritan
It was on September 11, 2001 (during the terror attacks on World Trade Centre), that Venus (Williams) gave me and Neha a lift after both of us were on our way back after losing in Challenger events. She had just been crowned the US Open champion and we were nothing then. But we were amazed by her humility and patience, as we got to know her more during the trip. It was ironical that I played Venus at the US Open three years later and had a chance to win (Shikha was 4-1 up in the first set before losing 5-7 1-6). That continues to be my most memorable moment.