Local flavour is distinctly missing from the Bangalore Open; even the stars from abroad can feel it.
Top seed Jelena Jankovic, on Monday, said she was disappointed by Sania Mirza's withdrawal from the Tier II event.
"Sania is a great player. I am very disappointed that she is not playing here for her fans," said the 23-year-old Serb.
"She is a nice girl off the court. She has been doing well on the tour and it would have been very nice if she was playing here. She has been doing very well on the tour and, hopefully, she will play here in the future."
Jankovic, who has climbed to the top-five after a breakthrough year in 2007, beat Sania on all four ocassions the players crossed paths. She rallied to a 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 win over the Indian ace in the Dubai Open last week to keep her record intact.
Venus Williams also said that she would have liked to see Sania at the tournament.
"It's sad she isn't playing, but I hope she will be able to in the coming years."
Jankovic, one of the fittest and most hard-working players on tour, also sympathised with Sania for being injury-plagued this year. The 21-year-old Hyderabadi had to pull out from her first-round match at Doha Open, against Belarussian Olga Govortsova, due to injury and could not last against Jankovic in Dubai.
"If she had a tough match against me, even my fitness fell apart against Svetlana Kuznetsova (in Dubai). It happens on tour. It takes time to be very fit. Everybody can do it, you just have to work hard."
In the earlier part of her career, Sania had been criticised for not matching up with the fitness levels with her peers. Though she worked hard on it and improved her court speed, the spat of injuries hasn't done her any good in recent months.
