New Delhi: Even though Sania Mirza has had the better of Shahar Peer (Israel) the last four times that the two have met, not too much will be expected from her when the two clash in their women's singles first-round match on day two of the 2011 US Open which will also see Leander Paes, Mahesh Bhupathi and Rohan Bopanna in action.
Apart from the fact that she is ranked 39 places above Sania who stands at 63 in the world, the goalposts have been shifted for the Indian whose forte now is very much her doubles game with Russian partner Elena Vesnina.
Sania's only loss to Peer came quite some time back at Stanford in 2005 and she has been victorious in all her encounters against her since then - the latest being at Osaka, Japan, a couple of years ago.
But, while Peer's ranking has risen to 24 on the WTA circuit, Sania has been reduced to competing in the qualifying rounds of major events.
It would not be an exaggeration to state that she will have to pull a rabbit out of her hat to get out of this one.
Where the Indians will be expected to do well is the men's doubles category where the fourth seed pairing of Leander Paes/Mahesh Bhupathi and the fifth seeds, Rohan Bopanna/Aisam-Ul-Haq-Qureshi will get their campaign underway.
The coming together of Paes and Bhupathi earlier this year paid rich dividends when they pipped the Bryan brothers (Bob and Mike) who have proved to be heads and shoulders above the rest in recent years, at the Cincinnati Masters.
The Indo-Pak Express of Bopanna and Qureshi had won over many hearts when they, in fact, went down in the finals to the Bryan brothers around this time last year at the Flushing Meadows.
While the Indian Express of Lea-Hesh take on Alexandr Dolgopolov (Ukraine) and Albert Ramos (Spain), Bopanna and Qureshi will clash with Americans Robby Ginepri and Rhyne Williams who are sure to have the crowd firmly behind them.
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