She's India's Sharapova - the top paid sportswomen in the country, a fashion icon and the teenage prodigy credited with making tennis the second most popular sport of a cricket-crazy nation. Sania Mirza is also perhaps the only tennis star in India to have making page 1 headlines ever since she crashed on the scene with a doubles juniors' championship title at Wimbledon. In Wimbledon week where she has now progressed to the second round of Ladies' Singles and become the only Indian women to do so, Mirza is India's new hope. There is hardly any other tennis player who is so closely watched, analysed or followed. Her fan following is now in millions. She is a brand ambassador and has sponsors lining up for endorsements. No other Indian tennis player had such superstar status in the sub-continent. Of course, Vijay Amritraj was the first player to raise the popularity of tennis in India but even Amritraj, a big name in the South of India, never enjoyed stardom on a comparatable level. Likewise, Leander Paes, who at the Atlanta Olympics became the first Indian to win an Olympic medal, and Mahesh Bhupati, doubles champion at Wimbledon in 1999 with Paes - always had fans but not on a mass scale. The support base of the 18-year-old from Hyderabad is quite something else. When Mirza took on Jelena Jankovic in the quarter-finals of the Dubai Open, the Serbian was stunned to be greeted by wildly enthusiastic crowd. On her way to the last 8 at Dubai she defeated Svetlana Kuznetsova - the player Mirza will play today on Centre Court. She is confident, injury-free and has a love for grass courts. With little luck, her aggressive baseline game and some experience of playing against top players like Serena Williams, Mirza might just be able to script a repeat of her Dubai triumph. At least India hopes so. "A billion people expect me to win," she said "I am going to go out and give my best." Written by Sajid Shaikh --

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