Sania Mirza..

After watching the repeat telecast of last night's match between Sania Mirza and US Open champion Svetlana Kuznetsova, I realise I have nothing against the rising Indian star. She's a talent to watch out for. But I'm totally annoyed with the Indian commentator Vijay Arbitraj (not even sure if it's the correct spelling, I don't give a damn). I can understand he's extremely excited about the prospect of his fellow Indian tennis player beating the Russian. However he seems to forget he is paid to be a COMMENTATOR, and not some crazy fan like me, who can curse and scream at the opponent whenever I wish. Here are some examples of why he irritates me.

1. When Kuznetsova hits a ball into the net, Vijay goes, "Yes!!!!"
2. When Kuznetsova overhits the ball, Vijay goes, "It's long!!!"
3. When Kuznetsova produces a good serve and Mirza mis-times the ball, Vijay goes, "That's what nerves can do to you." Hello, it was a superb serve. Mirza just couldn't get her body out of the way in time. What has it got to do with nerves?
4. When Mirza hits a cross-court forehand winner, Vijay exclaims, "What a glorious winner!" Yawn... If you've been watching tennis long enough, you see those kind of shots being hit 1 out of 10 times. What's the big deal?
5. During the 2nd set tie-break, Vijay keeps cheering for his woman, "Come on, Mirza, you've got to push it to the 3rd set." And when Mirza finally won the 2nd set, Vijay screamed as if Mirza had won The Championship.

I couldn't bear to watch the 3rd set anymore even though I knew Mirza lost. Vijay doesn't give credit to Kuznetsova whenever she plays well. He goes on and on about how good Mirza is. I admit at times, her tennis is wonderful to watch. But it's a bit too much when he describes her as if she's the goddess of tennis. Come on, even Sharapova or Serena doesn't get such treatment from him. Moreover she's certainly not the female version of Rog. What irks me more is that the other commentator, Alan Wilkins, is being influenced by Vijay. Ok, to be fair, at least he cheers for Kuznetsova when she hits a winner. However, like Vijay, it's so obvious that he's supporting Mirza. They are flouting the so called rules of being a sports commentator. I understand that everyone has a favourite player. But can they at least minimize their bias during the match and stop giving a one sided view on what's happening during the match? If they can't contain their excitement or control their emotions, then jolly well do not commentate that match. Or is it because other commentators like John McEnroe and Boris Becker can't even be bothered to watch Mirza that they have to get Vijay to do the commentory? I wish that Vijay can just shut up at times. His evil and cynical laughter is giving me creeps.

I'm sorry that Mirza has to meet a seeded player so early during the tournament and bow out on the 3rd day of The Championships. But I'm just glad that Vijay can finally shut his big mouth about what a nice person and exciting player she is. I'm sick of her and he has to shoulder all the blame.