Sania Mirza

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Sania Mirza
Sania Mirza (35449409862).jpg2010–2012: Injury, struggles & doubles specialization

Sania Mirza at the 2010 US Open

Mirza began her year at the ASB Classic in Auckland. She won her first-round match
against Stefanie Vögele, but was crushed by fourth seed Francesca Schiavone in the
second round. Mirza then suffered two first-round losses at the Moorilla Hobart
International and the Australian Open. In February, Mirza competed in the Pattaya
Open as the sixth seed, but was upset by Tatjana Malek. She then played in the
Dubai Tennis Championships but suffered a first-round defeat to Anabel Medina
Garrigues. Mirza was forced to withdraw from the Sony Ericcson Open, the BNP
Paribas Open and the Family Circle Cup due to a right wrist injury. This injury
also caused her to pull out of the French Open.

She returned at the Aegon Classic, where she lost in the second round to Tamarine
Tanasugarn in three sets. Mirza then fell in the qualifying at Eastbourne and also
lost in the first round of Wimbledon; however, she did manage to finish runner-up
at the Aegon GB Pro-Series Wrexham. Her bad form continued, as she lost in the
second round of the Odlum Brown Vancouver Open and qualifying rounds of both the
Cincinnati Masters and the Rogers Cup. Mirza won her first round match against
Michelle Larcher de Brito at the US Open, but she went down against 20th seeded
Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in the second round.

In September, Mirza competed in the Guangzhou International Open where she made her
first quarterfinal of the season. She then lost in the first round of the Tashkent
Open, the qualifying draw of the BGL Luxembourg Open, and the first round of the
OEC Taipei Ladies Open. In doubles, Mirza won in Guangzhou (with Edina Gallovits)
and finished as a runner-up in Taipei (with Hsieh Su-wei). In October, she
represented India at the 2010 Commonwealth Games as the second seed. She defeated
Brittany Teei (Cook Islands), Marina Erakovic (New Zealand), and Olivia Rogowska
(Australia) before losing to Australia's Anastasia Rodionova in the final. In
doubles, she partnered with fellow Indian, Rushmi Chakravarthi, losing in the
semifinals to Australians Anastasia Rodionova and Sally Peers. Mirza and
Chakravarthi compatriots Poojashree Venkatesha and Nirupama Sanjeev to win the
bronze medal.In November, she represented India at the 2010 Asian Games. The
unseeded Indian defeated Chan Wing-yau in first round. Next she defeated sixth seed
Zhang Shuai in straight sets to enter into quarterfinal. In quarterfinal Mirza won
against second seed Tamarine Tanasugarn to move in semifinal, where she was
defeated by third seed Akgul Amanmuradova and won Bronze Medal in singles. In mixed
doubles, she partnered with India's Vishnu Vardhan losing in the finals to Chan
Yung-jan and Yang Tsung-hua and won Silver Medal. In December, she went to Dubai to
compete at the Al Habtoor Tennis Challenge. Coming unseeded, she won the
tournament, defeating Ksenia Pervak, top seed Julia Görges and Evgeniya Rodina en
route, and 2nd seed Bojana Jovanovski in the final.

Mirza at the 2011 French Open, where she reached the finals in doubles alongside
Vesnina
Mirza lost in the early rounds of the Australia Open and its warm-up tournaments.
Following that, she received wildcards to play in the Dubai Open and the Qatar
Open. She made the second rounds of both events, falling to Ayumi Morita and Jelena
Janković, respectively. She also was the quarterfinalist in doubles at both, with
Elena Vesnina. At the Premier Mandatory events in March, Mirza made the second
rounds in both. In doubles, she won her first Premier Mandatory title at Indian
Wells, with Vesnina, defeating Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Meghann Shaughnessy.
Mirza participated at the Premier-level Family Circle Cup in Charleston. In
singles, she made her first Premier quarterfinal since San Diego in August 2007. In
doubles, Mirza won the title with Vesnina: the Indo-Russian duo beat Mattek-Sands
and Shaughnessy in the final for the second time this season. Mirza won her 11th
WTA Tour doubles title and second of the year.

Next, she also competed at the Mutua Madrid Open, losing in the first round against
doubles partner Elena Vesnina. In doubles, with Vesnina, she managed to go up to
the third round. Mirza took part in the Sparta Prague Open, but had to retire in
her first round match against Aleksandra Krunić due to a back injury. Next she
played at Strasbourg, but suffered a first round lost Alizé Cornet.

Mirza breezed through the first round of the French Open where she beat Kristina
Barrois in straight sets. Then in round two, she lost to 12th seed Agnieszka
Radwańska. In doubles, Mirza had what was probably the greatest highlight of her
career- reaching the finals of a Grand Slam and she ended up runner-up with Vesnina
losing out to Andrea Hlaváčková and Lucie Hradecká.[16]

During the grass-court season Mirza lost in the first rounds of the singles and
doubles competition at the 2011 Aegon International. Playing at the All England
Lawn Tennis Club she came up with her personal best performance by reaching her
first semifinals at Wimbledon alongside Vesnina losing out to Květa Peschke and
Katarina Srebotnik. En route they beat 13th seeds Daniela Hantuchová and Agnieszka
Radwańska in the round of 16 and the Spanish duo of Nuria Llagostera Vives and
Arantxa Parra Santonja in the quarterfinal clash. In singles she lost in the first
round to Virginie Razzano in a close three-setter.

Sania Mirza during her first-round match with Virginie Razzano at Wimbledon
She then could not cross the first round hurdles in her next five attempts in
singles including the US Open where she lost yet another tight three setter to
Israel's 23rd seed Shahar Pe'er. On two occasions Mirza scored two wins in
qualifying rounds, defeated Heidi El Tabakh at Rogers Cup and Vania King at
Cincinnati. She however continued her good run in doubles competition as she won
the title at D.C. partnering Yaroslava Shvedova defeating the second seeded Olga
Govortsova and Alla Kudryavtseva in the finals.

Partnering Vesnina, Mirza entered Southern California Open but the duo had to
withdraw from their first round match against Elena Bovina and Zheng Jie while
leading 5–2 in the first set. Playing at Rogers Cup the pair lost to the future
world No. 1 Italian duo of Sara Errani and Roberta Vinci in three sets. At the
Flushing Meadows, Mirza and Vesnina lost in the pre-quarters to the Czech duo of
Iveta Melzer and Barbora Záhlavová-Strýcová, having beaten Samantha Crawford and
Madison Keys, Vitalia Diatchenko and Olga Savchuk in straight sets in their
previous encounters. After playing on the singles circuit regularly throughout the
year Mirza also re-entered the top 60 in singles ranking in 2011.

Mirza kicked off her 2012 season ranked 104th at the ASB Classic in Auckland. She
lost a first qualifying match against CoCo Vandeweghe. As for doubles, she
partnered Elena Vesnina and made it to the semifinals, losing to Julia Görges and
Flavia Pennetta. Her next tournament was in Sydney where she played doubles only
alongside Roberta Vinci, but lost in round one.

Going into the Australian Open, Mirza was overpowered by Tsvetana Pironkova in the
first round. In doubles, Mirza reached her third Grand Slam semifinal, partnering
Vesnina, where they fell to Svetlana Kuznetsova and Vera Zvonareva. For the mixed-
doubles event, Mirza played alongside compatriot Mahesh Bhupathi and reached her
fourth Grand Slam semifinal.
Mirza then represented India at the Fed Cup in Shenzhen, China where they were
facing Hong Kong. In singMirza then went to Doha to play at the Qatar Ladies Open
where she had to withdraw from the singles qualifying event, due to playing Pattaya
doubles final. She lost in the second round of doubles with Elena Vesnina. Then, in
Dubai, she was beaten by Aleksandra Wozniak in the first qualifying round. In
doubles, Mirza and Vesnina were runners-up against No. 1 seeds Liezel Huber and
Lisa Raymond. Mirza then lost a tough three set encounter to Eleni Daniilidou in
round one of the BMW Malaysian Open.

Playing doubles at the Premier-line up of Indian Wells, Miami and Charleston, Mirza
reached the final, lost in round one and made the quarters, respectively. She also
reached round two of singles in Indian Wells. She then would begin the European
Clay Court Season at Estoril, where she was the semifinalist in doubles (with
Anastasia Rodionova). She lost in round two of doubles in Madrid and also in Rome.
Mirza returned on the singles circuit in May at Brussels where she won three good
matches – including her first 'double bagel' – in the qualifying competition, where
she beat Lesia Tsurenko, who was ranked 87 spots higher than her. She also won the
doubles of the same event with Bethanie Mattek-Sands.

She then participated in the French Open in the Women's doubles (with Mattek-Sands)
and the French Open mixed doubles (with Bhupathi). In the doubles she suffered a
first round shock defeat but found great success in the French Open mixed doubles
where she and Bhupathi won the crown by defeating Santiago González of Mexico and
Klaudia Jans-Ignacik of Poland in the final on 7 June 2012.[17]

Mirza and her partner Yaroslava Shvedova crashed out of the Aegon Classic with a
straight-set defeat against Iveta Benešová and Alla Kudryavtseva.[18] Mirza then
would go on to falling in the qualifying singles and first round doubles at the
2012 Aegon International.

Mirza and her American partner Mattek-Sands advanced to the third round of the
women's doubles competition at Wimbledon, where they fell to the Williams sisters.
[19] On 26 June 2012, Sania Mirza was awarded a wild card entry hence confirming
her participation in women's doubles event of the London Olympics.[20] On 17 July
2012, Mirza and her partner Bethanie Mattek-Sands were ousted in the first round of
WTA Premier event in the US.[21]

Mirza, partnering Rushmi Chakravarthy in the women's doubles competition at

Olympics, bowed out, losing to Chinese Taipei team in a tight match.[22] She also
lost in quarterfinals of mixed doubles with Leander Paes to Belarus in a tough
encounter. At the Premier Mandatory events Montréal and Cincinnati, partnering
Mattek-Sands, Mirza reached the quarterfinals and lost in round one of doubles,
respectively.[23]

In October 2012 the prize purse for female winners of the "Fenesta Open National
Tennis Championship" was increased to be equal to that of male winners at Mirza's
suggestion to All India Tennis Association president Anil Khanna.[24] Khanna also
announced that "From now on we will see to it that all national tournaments have
the same prize money for both categories women and men."[24]

2013–2014: Top 5 doubles breakthrough

Mirza kicked off her 2013 season with a title Brisbane alongside Bethanie Mattek-
Sands in the first tournament itself. The pair then unexpectedly lost in the first
round of Australian Open, Mirza though reached the quarterfinals of the 2013
Australian Open mixed doubles partnering Bob Bryan. Mattek-Sands and Mirza then won
the doubles title at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships in February. They had
to retire in their round of 16 match at the French Open after having won the first
set against Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova and Lucie Šafářová. They also lost in R16 at
Wimbledon. Mirza then formed a brief successful partnership with Zheng Jie from
China winning a title at New Haven and reaching the semis at US Open losing out to
Australians Casey Dellacqua and Ashleigh Barty. Mirza then partnered Cara Black for
the rest of the season and the pair won their first title in their first outing at
Tokyo. They won their second title in a row as they lifted the China Open trophy
defeating top seeds and world No. 1's Sara Errani Roberta Vinci en route. Mirza
partnered different players during 2013 and won five WTA Titles.

Mirza began 2014 playing with Cara Black in the Apia International Sydney where
they lost in the first round to Ajla Tomljanović and Jarmila Gajdošová. Her next
tournament was the Australian Open. Seeded sixth, Mirza and Black reached the
quarterfinals at the 2014 Australian Open – Women's Doubles before losing to top
seeds and eventual champions Sara Errani and Roberta Vinci. She was more successful
in the mixed doubles event, reaching the final partnering Horia Tecău of Romania.
Tecău and Mirza lost to Kristina Mladenovic and Daniel Nestor in the final.

Mirza practicing at the 2014 Aegon International

Mirza and Black next competed in the Qatar Total Open and lost to the pairing of
Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova and Nadia Petrova in the quarterfinals. The pair lost in
the first round of the Dubai Tennis Championships to Andrea Hlaváčková and Lucie
Šafářová. They reached their first WTA Tour doubles final of the year at the BNP
Paribas Open but lost to Hsieh Su-wei and Peng Shuai. Mirza and Black reached the
semifinals of the Sony Open Tennis in Miami before losing to wild cards Martina
Hingis and Sabine Lisicki. They finished runners-up to Errani and Vinci once again
in the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix. They won their first title of the year at the
2014 Portugal Open, defeating Eva Hrdinová and Valeria Solovyeva in the final.

Mirza and Black recorded three consecutive quarterfinal finishes in the subsequent
clay tournaments, namely the Mutua Madrid Open, the Internazionali BNL d'Italia,
and the French Open. In the mixed doubles event at the 2014 French Open, Mirza and
Horia Tecău lost in the second round to Tímea Babos and Eric Butorac. Mirza began
grass season playing in the Aegon Classic. She and Black lost to Raquel Kops-Jones
and Abigail Spears in the semifinals. At the Aegon International, they reached the
quarterfinals before losing to Chan Hao-ching and Chan Yung-jan. The pair next
competed at the Wimbledon Championships and lost in the second round to the
unseeded pairing of Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova and Lucie Šafářová.[25]

Mirza and Black next competed in the 2014 US Open and lost to the pairing of
Martina Hingis and Flavia Pennetta in the semifinals. Mirza played the mixed
doubles in the US Open pairing with Bruno Soares and went on to become the 2014 US
Open mixed-doubles champions, thereby winning the third mixed doubles Grand Slam in
her career.

Sania won a gold and bronze at the 17th Asian Games in Incheon, South Korea. She
paired with Saketh Myneni to beat China's Hsien Yin Peng and Chan Hao-ching and win
gold in the mixed doubles tournament. She also won a bronze medal in women's
doubles tournament, where she paired with Prarthana Thombare.

Black and Mirza won their biggest title together at the WTA Finals defeating Hsieh
Su-wei and Peng Shuai in the final It was the heaviest defeat ever witnessed in the
end-of-season competition's doubles final which dates back 41 years to 1973, the
year the WTA was founded. Black and Mirza survived matchpoints in both their
previous encounters against Květa Peschke Katarina Srebotnik and Raquel Kops-Jones
Abigail Spears coming through in third set tiebreaks. This final would be the duo's
final match as a team.

"It was great – we saved the best for the last. I think today was our best match.
One of our best matches at least, and one of our best matches we played against
them." Mirza told reporters after the win. "To end this way, we couldn't have asked
for a better start or end. It kind of sums up our partnership", she added. She
added that Black was her great friend "But I've also found a great friend in her.
Almost like an older sister to me. I'm the oldest in my family, so I learned a lot
from her on and off the court."

Mirza participated in the International Premier Tennis League starting on 28

November 2014, playing with the Micromax Indian Aces alongside tennis legend Roger
Federer countryman Rohan Bopanna top Serbian Ana Ivanovic and Frenchman Gaël
Monfils. She played all the Mixed Doubles matches alongside Bopanna and partnered
Federer who visited the country for his first match there in the New Delhi leg, and
Hingis won the Wimbledon Championships, defeating Ekaterina Makarova and Elena
Vesnina in three tough sets in the final. After splitting two very close sets
against two-time Grand Slam champions Makarova and Vesnina, Hingis and Mirza – who
were playing just their second Grand Slam together – fell behind in the third set
were a game away from going out. But a fierce rally saw them draw level at 5-all,
and after a half hour break for the Centre Court roof to be closed due to fading
light, the No. 1-seeded Swiss-Indian duo came out stronger, breaking the No. 2-
seeded Russians one last time and then serving it out for a gritty victory.[40] The
win gave Mirza her first Grand Slam title in Women's Doubles and Hingis her tenth.
[41]

En route to the final, the pair did not lose a single set against any of their
opponents. In the opening two rounds the duo beat unseeded opponents, Zarina Diyas
and Zheng Saisai and veteran Japanese-Italian combine of Kimiko Date-Krumm and
Francesca Schiavone. 16th seeded Spaniard duo of Anabel Medina Garrigues and
Arantxa Parra Santonja beating them in the third round, ninth seeds Casey Dellacqua
and Yaroslava Shvedova in the quarter finals, and dominated fifth seeded Americans
Raquel Kops-Jones and Abigail Spears (who beat them earlier) in the semi finals
before finally overcoming Vesnina and Makarova in the marathon final. With the win
Mirza and Hingis also regain the top spot in 2015 Road to Singapore Standings
trading spots with Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Lucie Šafářová and became the first
team to qualify for WTA Finals.[42]

The pair reached two consecutive finals at the Rogers Cup and Western & Southern
Open losing out to Caroline Garcia, Katarina Srebotnik and Chan Hao-ching, Chan
Yung-jan respectively. At the US Open the pair entered the tournament as the top
seed and went on to win the title defeating Casey Dellacqua and Yaroslava Shvedova
in the finals. They did not lose a set throughout the fortnight defeating seeded
opponents Michaëlla Krajicek, Barbora Strýcová, Chan sisters Sara Errani, Flavia
Pennetta. This was the pair's second straight Grand Slam title after Wimbledon.
Their undefeated run continued through the rest of the year with titles at
Guangzhou International Women's Open and Premier Level Tournament 2015 Wuhan Open,
and Premier Mandatory China Open defeating Shilin Xu and Xiaodi You, Irina-Camelia
Begu and Monica Niculescu, Chan sisters again respectively.[43]

The pair then entered 2015 WTA Finals as heavy favourites and the top seeds and
lived up to the expectations as they did not lose a single set en route to the
title at the Premier Event. This was Mirza's second straight title at the Finals
and she remains undefeated at the year ending tournament. The pair of Hingis-Mirza
topped their group and beat the Chan's in the semi-finals and Garbiñe Muguruza and
Carla Suárez Navarro in the finals to win the title. The pair thus ended the year
with a 22 match winning streak and Mirza secured the year ending No. 1 ranking and
wrapped up her 2015 season with 10 WTA titles including two Grand Slams.[44]

Mirza on clay court at the 2016 French Open

Mirza and Hingis kicked off their 2016 WTA Tour in Australia by winning the
tournaments in Brisbane and Sydney. In the Australian Open they were seeded first
and won the Doubles title which is Mirza's third Grand Slam title.
Mirza and Hingis then proceeded to the inaugural St. Petersburg Ladies' Trophy and
won the title there, defeating Dushevina/Krejčíková in the final. They next played
at the Qatar Open, where they suffered a shock loss to Daria Kasatkina/Elena
Vesnina. That loss ended Hingis and Mirza's 41 match winning streak. They then
played the Indian Wells Masters, where they played their first tournament together,
and surprisingly lost their 2nd round match against Vania King/Alla Kudryavtseva.

At the Miami Open, Mirza and Hingis again lost in the second round to Margarita
Gasparyan and Monica Niculescu. After losing three out of last five matches, Mirza
and Hingis took a break and did not play in the Charleston Open, where they were
the defending champions.

Mirza and Hingis started their clay season by reaching the finals of Porsche Tennis
Grand Prix and Mutua Madrid Open, where they eventually lost to Kristina Mladenovic
and Caroline Garcia in both the tournaments. They, however, managed to reach and
win their third consecutive clay final in Internazionali BNL d'Italia, by defeating
Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina in the deciding tie-breaker.

2017–2019: Split with Hingis, maternity leave

In August 2016, Mirza and Hingis announced their mutual decision to split as a
team, citing their last few under-par performances, with the 2016 WTA Finals in
Singapore being their last event together. Mirza partnered with Barbora Strýcová in
late 2016 (winning two titles) and some parts of the 2017 season. In 2017, her sole
title came at Brisbane, where she played alongside her friend Mattek-Sands.
However, Mirza struggled to find a committed partner to play with in the 2017
season, which resulted in her falling out of the top 5. The last tournament she
played was the China Open, where she lost in the semifinals partnering Peng Shuai.
Wimbledon W (2015)
US Open W (2015)
Other doubles tournaments
Tour Finals W (2014, 2015)
Mirza missed the first few tournaments of the 2018 season, including the Australian
Open, citing a knee injury she sustained in October 2017. In early February 2018,
Mirza said the same injury would keep her out of competition for a further two
months.[45] In April, Mirza announced on Instagram that she was pregnant with her
first child, with husband Shoaib Malik.[46] In late October, Mirza had delivered a
baby boy.[47]

2020–present: Winning return

In late 2018, Mirza announced she hoped to return to professional tennis in plenty
time for the 2020 Summer Olympics.[48] After having celebrated her son's first
birthday and having spent more than two years off the professional circuit, she
returned to the tour at the Hobart International in January 2020 playing alongside
Nadiia Kichenok. The newly formed team won the tournament beating second seeds Peng
Shuai/Zhang Shuai in the final. However, the team lost their first round match at
the 2020 Australian Open because of a calf injury suffered by Mirza.[49]

Playing style
Mirza is an offensive baseliner with very powerful groundstroke and is known for
setting up good attacks with the sheer velocity of her groundstrokes. Her main
strength is her forehand, as well as her volleying skills.[50] Her power game has
drawn comparisons to Romanian legend Ilie Năstase.[51] She is also a great returner
of serve finding many return winners during matches. Mirza goes for winners, which
means she goes for lots of angles.[52] Mirza has said that "There's no doubt that
my forehand and backhand can match anyone, it's about the place that they're put
in. I can hit the ball as hard as anyone can". "I'm not that fast on my feet", she
added as her most evident weakness is her movement around the court, where Mirza
usually struggles moving up and around the court. Mirza's second serve and
relatively poor mobility are often quoted as her big weaknesses. But by 2012, a
series of injuries had effectively ended her singles career.[53]

Awards and recognition

Arjuna Award (2004)
WTA Newcomer of the Year (2005)
Padma Shri (2006)[54]
Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna (2015)[55]
BBC list of 100 inspiring women (2015)[56]
Padma Bhushan (2016)
NRI of the Year (2016)
In the year 2014, the government of Telangana appointed Sania Mirza as the brand
ambassador of the state. Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrashekhar Rao
congratulated Sania Mirza on her being awarded Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award[57]
She was named in the Time magazine's 2016 list of 100 most influential people in
the world.[11]

Personal life

Sania with her husband, Shoaib Malik, 2012

In 2009, Sania Mirza became engaged to childhood friend Sohrab Mirza. However, the
wedding was called off shortly after.[58][59][60][61] On 12 April 2010, she married
Pakistani cricketer Shoaib Malik in a traditional Hyderabadi Muslim wedding
ceremony at the Taj Krishna Hotel in Hyderabad, India followed by Pakistani wedding
customs for a mahr of ₹ 6.1 million (US$137,500).[62][63] Their Walima ceremony was
held in Sialkot, Pakistan.[64]

According to Google Trends, the online attention the wedding received made Mirza
the
Olympic Games 2R (2008)
Mixed doubles
Career titles 3
Grand Slam Mixed Doubles results
Australian Open W (2009)
French Open W (2012)
Wimbledon QF (2011, 2013, 2015)
US Open W (2014)
Other mixed doubles tournaments
Olympic Games SF (2016)
Last updated on: 7 February 2020.
Sania Mirza (Hindustani pronunciation: [ˈsaːnɪaː ˈmɪrzaː]; born 15 November 1986)
is an Indian professional tennis player. A former world No. 1 in the doubles
discipline, 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 WTA as India's No. 1
player in both the categories. Throughout her career, Mirza has established herself
as by far the most successful Indian women's tennis player ever and one of the
highest-paid and most high-profile athletes in the country.[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 six major titles (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]
In addition, she is the third Indian woman in the Open Era to feature and win a
round at a Grand Slam tournament, and the first to reach the second week. 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.

Mirza was named one of the "50 Heroes of Asia" by Time in October 2005.[8] In March
2010, The Economic Times named Mirza in the list of the "33 women who made India
proud".[9] She was appointed as the UN Women's Goodwill Ambassador for South Asia
during the event held to mark the International Day To End Violence Against Women
on 25 November 2013.[10] She was named in Time magazine's 2016 list of the 100 most
influential people in the world.[11]

Contents
1 Early life
2 Tennis career
2.1 2001–2003: Success on the Junior ITF circuit
2.2 2004–2005: Success in WTA Tour and Grand Slam tournaments
2.3 2006–2007: Top 30 breakthrough
2.4 2008–2009: Grand Slam mixed-doubles championship
2.5 2010–2012: Injury, struggles & doubles specialization
2.6 2013–2014: Top 5 doubles breakthrough
2.7 2015–2016: Rise to world No. 1 and women's doubles major titles
2.8 2017–2019: Split with Hingis, maternity leave
2.9 2020–present: Winning return
3 Playing style
4 Awards and recognition
5 Personal life
6 Social contribution
7 Controversies
8 Career statistics
9 Grand Slam finals
9.1 Women's doubles: 4 (3 titles, 1 runner–up)
9.2 Mixed doubles: 7 (3 titles, 4 runner–ups)
9.3 Girls' doubles: 1 (1 title)
10 Autobiography
11 See also
12 References
13 External links
Early life
Sania Mirza was born on 15 November 1986 in Mumbai to Hyderabadi Muslim parents
Imran Mirza, a sports journalist,[12] 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.[13] 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 the 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 St. Mary's College.
Mirza also received an honorary degree of Doctor of Letters from the MGR
Educational and Research Institute University in Chennai on 11 December 2008.[14]
Apart from tennis, Mirza is particularly good at cricket and swimming.

Tennis career
2001–2003: Success on the Junior ITF circuit

2008–2009: Grand Slam mixed-doubles championship

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.

She then entered the Pattaya Women's Open Tournament where she reached the finals
after a string of good performances. She lost the finals to Vera Zvonareva. She
made the semis in doubles in the same tournament. Mirza then competed in the BNP
Paribas Open where she lost in the second round to Flavia Pennetta. She then
participated in the Miami Masters and lost to Mathilde Johansson in the first
round. Mirza and her doubles partner Chuang Chia-jung made the semifinals of the
women's doubles. Mirza lost in the first round of the MPS Group Championships but
won the doubles title with Chuang. She also lost in the first round at French Open,
to Galina Voskoboeva. On grass, Mirza participated at the Aegon Classic and reached
the semifinals, losing to Magdaléna Rybáriková. At the Wimbledon Championships,
Mirza defeated Anna-Lena Grönefeld in the first round. She then fell to No. 28 seed
Sorana Cîrstea in the second round. She then lost in the second round of the
doubles (with Chuang) and mixed doubles (with Mahesh Bhupathi).

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.
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.
2006–2007: Top 30 breakthrough
Mirza was seeded at the 2006 Australian Open (the first female Indian to be seeded
in a grand slam event), only falling to Michaëlla Krajicek. Next she fell to
Camille Pin at the Bangalore Open, but won the doubles title partnering Huber. She
played at the Dubai Tennis Championships but lost to Martina Hingis. At the Indian
Wells Masters, she reached the third round but lost to Elena Dementieva. She also
lost in the first round of the French Open Grand Slam to Anastasia Myskina.

Sania Mirza at 2006 US Open.

Her next tournament was the DFS Classic, where she defeated Alona Bondarenko and
Shenay Perry to reach the third round, where she was overpowered by Meilen Tu. She
also reached the quarterfinals of the Cincinnati Masters and the third round of the
Acura Classic, falling to Patty Schnyder and Elena Dementieva, respectively. She
reached the second round of the US Open, losing to Francesca Schiavone. In
September, she reached the semifinals of the Sunfeast Open, losing to eventual
champion and top seed Martina Hingis. She also won the doubles title there
partnering Huber. Mirza made the quarterfinals of the Hansol Korea Open (defeating
top seed Hingis en route) and the Tashkent Open. In December, Mirza picked up three
medals at the Doha Asian Games—gold, in mixed doubles and silver in women's singles
and team.

In 2006, Mirza notched up three top-ten wins against Svetlana Kuznetsova, Nadia
Petrova and Martina Hingis.[15]

Mirza started 2007 strongly, making it to the semifinals of Hobart, the second
round of the Australian Open, semifinals in Pattaya, and the quarterfinals in
Bangalore. At the French Open, Mirza lost the battle against Ana Ivanovic in the
second round. She also fell in the second round at the Wimbledon Championships to
Nadia Petrova. Mirza had the best results of her career during the 2007 summer
hardcourt season, finishing eighth in the 2007 US Open Series standings and
reaching her highest singles ranking of world No. 27.

She reached the quarterfinals in San Diego, the semifinals at Cincinnati, and made
it to the final at Stanford. She also won the doubles event in Cincinnati with
Shahar Pe'er. At the US Open, she reached the third round before losing to Anna
Chakvetadze for the third time in recent weeks. She fared much better in the
doubles, reaching the quarterfinals in mixed with her partner Mahesh Bhupathi and
the quarterfinals in the women's doubles with Bethanie Mattek, including a win over
number two seeds Lisa Raymond and Samantha Stosur. She won four doubles titles in
2007.