If Indian tennis has had a face in the last decade and a half, few would imagine anyone other than Sania Mirza to be it. She has carried the national flag high at tournaments and grand slams throughout her career. Her storied life on the courts has been so vast that it sometimes feels as if we might have forgotten many of her triumphs. But fear not, as we address just that in this edition of What The FAQ.
We recap all of Sania's biggest wins that would make you go gaga over this champion of a player. We'll also read about how her tennis journey began when she was a kid.
Did Sania really begin playing tennis when she was just a child?
Sports ran through the veins of Sania’s family as her father Imran Mirza was a sports journalist. She took up the racket when she was just six but tennis wasn't her only sporting interest as she excelled at cricket and swimming as well. She was initially coached by her father and then, American Roger Anderson who formerly coached the legendary Martina Navratilova.
What were her first notable achievements on the WTA (Women's Tennis Association) tour?
Sania regularly played both singles and doubles while on the tour. It was in the latter that her first big success came at the 2004 Hyderabad Open, in the city she calls her hometown. Here, she won the doubles title while partnering with South African player Liezel Huber. The same tournament fetched her further glory the next year when she became the first-ever Indian woman to win a WTA singles event. The same year she scored one of her biggest ever wins when she defeated reigning US Open champion and fourth seed Svetlana Kuznetsova to reach the quarterfinal at the Dubai Open.
READ ALSO : What The FAQ: Lower pay and longer hours? What are the new labour codes and when will they come into force?
What was her best ranking as a singles player?
Sania had a big year in 2006 when she scored three wins over top-10 ranked players Svetlana Kuznetsova, Nadia Petrova and Martina Hingis. She followed it up with a fantastic 2007 and this allowed her to reach her career-best ranking of 27 on August 27, 2007. She soon shifted her focus to doubles and mixed doubles and this brought her even greater glory.
As a doubles player, when did Sania Mirza win big?
Sania's first Grand Slam win came in 2009 in the mixed doubles while partnering with fellow Indian Mahesh Bhupathi at the Australian Open. The same pair won the French Open three years later as well. Sania's longest spell at the top came during the 2015-16 season in women's doubles when she won three majors in a row at Wimbledon, US Open and Australian Open with Swiss player Martina Hingis and reached the number one ranking as well.
What were Sania's highlights when it comes to representing India at international games?
Sania's most successful time with the Indian national team came at the 2006 Doha Asian Games where she won three medals including a gold in the mixed doubles and two silvers too. She further won two medals at the 2010 Commonwealth Games held in Delhi and then, won two more medals including a gold at the 2014 Incheon Asian Games.
What about her life off the court?
Sania married Pakistani cricketer Shoaib Malik in 2010. She has set up a tennis academy in Hyderabad. She is also the brand ambassador for the state of Telangana. In 2008, she received an honorary doctorate of letters from Dr MGR Educational and Research Institute in Chennai. In 2016, she released her autobiography titled Ace Against Odds published by HarperCollins India.
