Sania Mirza Biography

Sania Mirza

Born: November 15, 1986, Mumbai

Height: 1.73 m

Spouse: Shoaib Malik (m. 2010)

Awards: Padma Shri, Arjuna Award for Lawn Tennis

Siblings: Anam Mirza

Parents: Nasima Mirza, Imran Mirza

Sania Mirza (born 15 November 1986, in Mumbai) is a professional Indian tennis player, well known for her powerful forehand ground strokes. She holds the record for being the highest ranked Indian player for over a decade in between 2003–2013, after which her retirement from the singles competition put Ankita Raina at the top spot.

In her career, Mirza has notable wins over Svetlana Kuznetsova, Vera Zvonareva, Marion Bartoli; and former World No. 1s Martina Hingis, Dinara Safina, and Victoria Azarenka. She is the highest ranked female tennis player ever from India, with a career high ranking of 27 in singles and 7 in doubles. She is the first Indian female player to surpass US$1m in career earnings; first Indian to win a WTA Tour title of any kind; and, by winning the 2009 Australian Open – Mixed Doubles Event, became the third Indian, male or female, to win a Grand Slam title (the first two being Mahesh Bhupathi and Leander Paes). Mirza has also won the 2012 French Open – Mixed Doubles Event (her second Grand Slam title).

Mirza was named one of the '50 heroes of Asia' by Time in October 2005. In March 2010, The Economic Times named Mirza in the list of the "33 women who made India proud".

Early life and tennis career

Sania was born to Imran Mirza, a sports journalist, and his wife Naseema in Mumbai, Maharashtra. She and younger sister Anam were brought up in Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh in a Muslim family. She is related to former cricket captains Ghulam Ahmed of India, and Asif Iqbal of Pakistan.

Mirza began playing tennis at the age of six, turning professional in 2003. She was trained by her father. She attended NASR school in Hyderabad and later graduated from St. Mary's College.

Mirza received an honorary degree of Doctor of Letters from the MGR Educational and Research Institute University in Chennai on 11 December 2008. Her niece, Sonia Baig Mirza, studies there.

Mirza is the third Indian woman in the Open Era to feature and win a round at a Grand Slam tournament (the first one being Nirupama Vaidyanathan at the 1998 Australian Open and the second being Shikha Uberoi at the 2004 US Open). She also became the 1st Indian woman to be seeded in a Grand Slam event at the 2006 Australian Open.

Awards

In 2004, Mirza was awarded the Arjuna award by the Indian Government. In 2006, Mirza was awarded a Padma Shri, India's fourth highest honour for her achievements as a tennis player.

Arjuna Award (2004)

WTA New Comer of the Year (2005)

Padma Shri (2006)

Personal life

In 2009, Sania Mirza became engaged to childhood friend Sohrab Mirza. However the engagement was called off shortly after. She started seeing Pakistani cricketer Shoaib Malik. On 12 April 2010, she married Shoaib Malik in an Islamic wedding ceremony at the Taj Krishna Hotel in Hyderabad, India followed by Pakistani wedding customs] for a mahr of INR61 lakh (US$137,500). Their Walima ceremony was held in Lahore, Pakistan.

The online attention the wedding received made Mirza the most searched woman tennis player and most searched Indian sportsperson in 2010 according to Google Trends. The wedding was even more controversial because Shoaib Malik was accused by another girl of already being married to her and hence he could not marry Mirza without first divorcing her. Initially for many days, Shoaib Malik refused to grant the divorce claiming he was never married. This resulted in a huge media drama leading to so much online attention as stated earlier. Finally, having no other option, Shoaib divorced the girl paving the way for his next marriage to Mirza. Sania's mother Naseema has been appointed as the manager of the two member tennis team for London Olympics 2012.