Sania Mirza (Hindustani pronunciation: [ˈsaːnɪja ˈmɪrza]; born 15 November 1986) is an Indian professional tennis player. A former doubles world No. 1, she has won six Grand Slam titles in her career.[3][4] From 2003 until her retirement from singles in 2013, she was ranked by the Women's Tennis Association as India's No. 1 player. [5][6]
In her singles career, Mirza had notable wins over Svetlana Kuznetsova, Vera Zvonareva, and Marion Bartoli, as well as former world No. 1s Martina Hingis, Dinara Safina, and Victoria Azarenka. She is the highest-ranked female player ever from India, peaking at world No. 27 in mid-2007. However, a major wrist injury forced her to give up her singles career and focus on the doubles circuit. She has achieved a number of firsts for women's tennis in her native country, including surpassing $1 million in career earnings (in the end over $6.9 million), winning a singles WTA title, and winning a Grand Slam title (eventually, three each in women's doubles and in mixed doubles), as well as qualifying for (and eventually winning) the WTA Finals in 2014 alongside Cara Black, defending the title the following year partnering with Martina Hingis.[7]
So far, Mirza is the only Indian female player to win a WTA title of any kind, and the only to reach the top 100 singles rankings. She is the third Indian woman in the Open Era (after Nirupama Mankad and Nirupama Sanjeev; second in singles after Sanjeev) to feature and win a round at a Grand Slam tournament, and the first to advance past the second round. With 42 crowns, Mirza has won more WTA doubles titles on the tour than any other active player. In addition, she has spent 91 weeks as the world No. 1 in doubles.[8] In 2005, Mirza was crowned the WTA Newcomer of the year, and in 2015 she and Martina Hingis were the doubles team of the year, and later had a 44-match winning streak, one of the longest in history. She has also won a total of 14 medals (including 6 gold) at three major multi-sport events, namely the Asian Games, the Commonwealth Games and the Afro-Asian Games.
Early life
Sania Mirza was born on 15 November 1986 in Mumbai to Hyderabadi Muslim parents Imran Mirza, a sports journalist,[13] and his wife Naseema, who worked in a printing business. Shortly after her birth, her family moved to Hyderabad where she and younger sister Anam were raised in a religious Sunni Muslim family. She is the distant relative of former cricket captains Ghulam Ahmed of India, and Asif Iqbal of Pakistan.[14] She took up tennis at the age of six. She has been coached by her father and also Roger Anderson.
She attended Nasr School in Hyderabad. Sania in a recent interview credited her school for giving her the freedom to pursue her dream. She called Nasr 'a home she misses'. A prestigious girls day school, she recalled people's faces of joy whenever she walked into Nasr after a tournament, regardless of its result. This boosted her morale and determination, she said. She later graduated from the St. Mary's College, Hyderabad. Mirza also received an honorary degree of Doctor of Letters from the Dr. M.G.R. Educational and Research Institute in Chennai on 11 December 2008.[15] Apart from tennis, Mirza is also particularly good at cricket and swimming.
Tennis Career
2001–2003: Success on the Junior ITF Circuit
Sania Mirza began playing tennis at the age of six, turning professional in 2003. She was trained by her father. Mirza won 10 singles and 13 doubles titles as a junior player. She won the 2003 Wimbledon Championships Girls' Doubles title, partnering Alisa Kleybanova. She also reached the semifinals of the 2003 US Open Girls' Doubles, with Sanaa Bhambri, and the quarterfinals of the 2002 US Open girls' doubles. On the senior circuit, Mirza started to show early success as she made her debut in April 2001 on the ITF Circuit as a 15-year-old. Her highlights of 2001 include a quarterfinals showing in Pune and a semifinal finish in New Delhi. As the 2002 season began, she turned around a season of early losses to winning three straight titles; her first in her hometown Hyderabad and the other two in Manila, Philippines.
In February 2003, Mirza was given a wild card to play in her first ever WTA tournament, at the AP Tourism Hyderabad Open, in her hometown. She lost the tough first round encounter to Australia's Evie Dominikovic in three sets. The following week, at the Qatar Ladies Open, she fell to Czech Olga Blahotová in the first qualifying round. She had a good result representing India on the Fed Cup, winning three straight matches. She helped India win a bronze medal in the mixed doubles event of the 2002 Asian Games in Busan, partnering Leander Paes. In addition, Mirza picked up four gold medals at the 2003 Afro-Asian Games in Hyderabad.
2004–2005: Success in WTA Tour and Grand Slam tournaments
At her hometown event, the 2004 AP Tourism Hyderabad Open, Mirza was a wildcard entrant. She put up a good fight against the fourth seed and eventual champion Nicole Pratt in round one, but lost in three sets. She won her first WTA doubles title at the same event, partnering Liezel Huber. She then received a wild card to compete at the Grand Prix SAR La Princesse Lalla Meryem in Casablanca, Morocco, but suffered a first-round defeat to eventual champion Émilie Loit.
On the ITF Circuit, Mirza had a runner-up showing at the Palm Beach Gardens Challenger, where she fell to Sesil Karatantcheva. Mirza won six ITF singles titles in 2004. Going into the 2005 Australian Open, Mirza defeated Cindy Watson and Petra Mandula in the first and second rounds, respectively, to reach the third round where she was beaten in straight sets by eventual champion Serena Williams. In February, Mirza became the first-ever Indian woman to win a WTA title, by winning her hometown event, the AP Tourism Hyderabad Open, defeating ninth-seeded Alona Bondarenko in the final. At Dubai, she upset in round two 4th seed and reigning US Open champion Svetlana Kuznetsova to reach the biggest quarterfinal of her career. In the second round of the Wimbledon Championships, she lost to Kuznetsova in a tight three-setter.
In August, she reached the third round at the Acura Classic, falling to Morigami. Mirza reached her second WTA final at the Forest Hills Tennis Classic, falling to Lucie Šafářová. Mirza became the first Indian woman to reach the fourth round of a Grand Slam tournament at the US Open, defeating Mashona Washington, Maria Elena Camerin and Marion Bartoli, before losing to top seed Maria Sharapova in the Round of 16. At the Japan Open, Mirza reached the semifinals with wins over Vilmarie Castellvi, Aiko Nakamura and Vera Zvonareva, before being overpowered by Tatiana Golovin. Thanks to a successful 2005 season, Mirza was named the WTA Newcomer of the Year.
2008–2009: Grand Slam mixed-doubles championship[edit]
Mirza reached the quarterfinals at Hobart as the No. 6 seed. She lost to Flavia Pennetta in three sets. She reached the third round at the Australian Open as No. 31 seed, where she lost to No. 8 seed Venus Williams having been up a break in the first set. She was runner-up in the Australian Open mixed doubles partnering Mahesh Bhupathi, where they lost in straight sets to Sun Tiantian and Nenad Zimonjić.
She had to withdraw from the PTT Pattaya Open because of a left abductor strain. She reached round four at Indian Wells as the No. 21 seed, defeating No. 9 seed Shahar Pe'er en route, but lost to No. 5 seed Daniela Hantuchová. On Grass, Mirza was crushed in the second round of Birmingham by Marina Erakovic. At 2008 Wimbledon Championships, as the No. 32 seed, Mirza was defeated by qualifier María José Martínez Sánchez in round two, having had several match points.
Mirza represented India at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. She was eliminated from singles when she retired in her match against Iveta Benešová because of a right wrist injury. For doubles, she got a walkover through the first round with Sunitha Rao, but lost in the second round to Russia. Throughout 2008, Mirza was plagued by a slew of wrist injuries, requiring her to withdraw from several matches including those of the French Open and US Open Grand Slams.
Mirza started her year by playing at the doubles event of the Moorilla Hobart International. Partnering Francesca Schiavone, they reached the quarterfinals. At 2009 Australian Open, she won her first-round match against Marta Domachowska, but she fell against 10th seed Nadia Petrova in round two. In doubles she lost in the first round partnering Vania King. But in mixed doubles, Mirza picked up her first Australian Open Grand Slam title. Partnering with Mahesh Bhupathi, she beat Nathalie Dechy and Andy Ram in the final.
Next Mirza went to Lexington to compete in Fifth Third Bank Tennis Championships, where she won the title after a few good wins. Mirza's next two tournaments were in Canada, where she had mixed results. She managed it all the way to the final at the Odlum Brown Vancouver Open where she was beaten by Stéphanie Dubois. But at the Rogers Cup, she fell to Heidi El Tabakh in the second qualifying round.