"She had become headline news in her homeland since her return from Melbourne, where in January she had reached the third round of the Australian Open, the first time that an Indian woman had progressed so far in a grand slam event."

“A couple of weeks ago, the 21-year-old was photographed with her feet up while watching a colleague playing in an international exhibition match in Perth, and the proximity of her toes to a nearby Indian flag raised temperatures in her home state to vindaloo levels.”

“I don't think I have made any deliberate or conscious attempt to represent the new generation. I am what I am.”

“Well, I've grown up on the tennis circuit which has friendships with people from diverse religions, races, backgrounds and scores of different countries across the globe. I think this experience broadened my horizons. I can comfortably embrace relationships on a personal level while looking beyond narrow constraints.”

“The most difficult element is perhaps the lack of privacy in my life.”

“Indian Gold, Indian tea and Indian petrol to the nation: When car manufacturer Hyundai made her brand ambassador for their Getz model, production capacity doubled. She had not yet won a major tournament, but her fame was spreading well beyond Asia: soon she would be on the front of Time magazine and selected by the New Statesman as one of 10 young people with the potential to change the world.”

“Negativity sells. I have been labelled a rebel. If I had been one, would I have got married at 23? Would I have been a straight student?”