Bangalore: Comeback stories in sports always make an interesting read. Tennis is replete with such fascinating sagas, the recent one being Serena Williams' dream return to form after being sidelined for a while with injury. Quite unobtrusively another star, Alicia Molik of Australia, is making her way back into the big league. Alicia enjoyed a career high ranking of World No. 8 in 2005 before a tragedy struck her down.

The 26-year-old ash blonde Aussie with an athletic build was diagnosed with an inner-ear infection, "vestibular neuronitis", that affected her vision and balance and she had to drop out of the circuit for nearly a year.

"It was something I wouldn't want to dwell upon now as I am only interested in how I should get back to the level that I was in," said the Aussie who cleared her first hurdle beating Alberta Brianti of Italy in the Sony Ericsson WTA International on Wednesday.

Now ranked 97, it will be a hard climb for Alicia and she knows it. "I am just concentrating on how to keep improving with every match," said the player, who suffered a hamstring injury in an earlier tournament at Pattaya.

Many tennis buffs tip Alicia, along with Sania Mirza and defending champion Mara Santangelo, as favourite for the title. "Isn't it too early to think about that? I am happy that I won today and I am still in the tournament. Let's see how it goes," was her cautious comment.

Alicia, who has done a stint of radio commentary for an Australian local station, was involved in charity and donated a bit when there was a bush fire in Australia. She follows other sports, including cricket and Australian football.This is her first visit to India and she loves the ambience of Bangalore but she is yet to try the hot spicy Indian food. "I prefer to stick to Continental cuisine now that I am playing here," she said while complimenting Sania Mirza for giving Indian tennis a huge fillip. "In a country where it is not a major sport, Sania has made a huge impact with her game and has opened gates for more Indian women players," said Alicia Molik.

On court, after Shikha Uberoi's exit after a gritty display on Wednesday night, Sania teamed up with Mara Santangelo to win a first round doubles. The partners also kept their progress in the singles.

Sania took the court for her first round match against Martina Sucha of Slovakia and the moment she walked in, the stadium started filling up and she gave the spectators what they wanted with a feisty and gritty show to down her determined rival in three hard fought sets to keep the Indian hopes alive. Sania later said that it was one of the toughest first round matches she ever played. With Sania around, the crowd can come back for more tomorrow.

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