Sania can be a top-10 player: Bhupathi

Mahesh Bhupathi has backed compatriot and protege Sania Mirza to break into the world's top 10 in the Sony Ericsson WTA tour rankings but asked Indian fans to lower their expectations of the 20-year-old.

"She's definitely got potential to be in the top 10. To win a grand slam, you need a lot of luck and you got to put in a lot more work. But she's got a huge game," Bhupathi told XPRESS.

"There are a lot of hopes [on her]. Every time the Indian cricket team plays, everyone hopes they win. Sania's put in the same boat but I think people need to realise it's not possible to win every time you play. It's a professional sport, Roger Federer loses. She is not going out there losing for the sake of the media giving her a hard time."

Bhupathi also hit out Mirza's critics. "I don't think there's any criticism. Public opinion is not criticising Sania Mirza. These are random people. The guy in Bhopal who brought up the flag issue or a random person in Hyderabad brings up some other issue. These are random people who like to get their names in the papers," said Bhupathi.