Sania Mirza backs NSG act: 'Athletes in power will bring change'

Pune : Sania Mirza on Thursday said the provision under the National Sports Governance Act which allows eminent athletes to become part of administration could be the key to bring about much needed change in Indian tennis.“It’s great to be very honest. Athletes understand the pain, the commitments and the sacrifices that other athletes make, and when you have provisions for having certain athletes in those power positions, or in positions that help make certain decisions for the betterment of the sport, it’s a good thing,” Sania said during an online interaction.“I think we can all agree that, especially with tennis, change is required for more than one reason.”Sania believed change would be a “gradual process” but an active national centre like the National Cricket Academy was the need of the hour.“I do feel that systems will change. And by systems, I mean the coaching systems around,” the former world No. 1 and two-time Grand Slam winner in women’s doubles said.“I think it's important to have a national training centre, for example. We did have a national training centre, (but) did we have the quality that we needed? I don’t know.“Where do girls or guys go and train when they have time off, what happens to them when they are injured? Do we have a physio team in place, do we have a medical team in place?” Sania acknowledged the “void” in women’s tennis in India, but also sounded confident about the future.“I think there are emerging players. I just don’t think that they have made that jump .. to playing the Grand Slams,” she said. ( Catch all the action of Roland Garros 2026 starting May 24, live on Sony Sports Network)