BANGALORE, March 13: In a major decision to boost her performance, the Indian tennis ace Sania Mirza has engaged the services of top tennis coach Sven Groeneveld. Sven is also the current coach of the world number two Serbian Ana Ivanovic.

The 21-year-old Sania, who is presently in Indian Wells to participate in the elite $2,100,000 Tier I tournament, has already started working with the Dutchman since early this week.

Groeneveld has almost two decades of international coaching experience behind him and has worked with top ranking players like Mary Pierce, Michael Stich, Greg Rusedski and Nicolas Kiefer. He’ll work with Sania for 15 weeks during the course of the year – coaching the Hyderabadi girl during Grand Slams and Tier I tournaments.

According to an agreement between the two, Groemeveld will work in tandem with Sania’s father Imran, who will henceforth handle her coaching full-time for the rest of the season.

Sania, who travels with former WTA Tour physio Renuka Pinto, has been on the lookout for a coach in the new season. Last year, she worked in part with former pro Gabriel Urpi.