Sania Mirza Biography

Who is Sania Mirza?

Sania Mirza is a professional Indian tennis player born on the 15th of November, 1986. Sania began her tennis career in 2003 and is well known for her forehand and ground strokes.

WTA Rankings

She is the first Indian to have broken into the top 30 WTA rankings and top 10 in doubles. She has beaten many top players, including Svetlana Kuznetsova, Vera Zvonareva, and Martina Hingis.

Sania Mirza has won one WTA singles so far. She has also won one Grand Slam title: the mixed doubles event at the 2009 Australian open.

Government Awards

She has been awarded the Padma Bhushan, Padma Shri, Arjuna Award and Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award by the Government of India.

In 2005, Mirza was named as one of the ’50 heroes of Asia’ by the Time Magazine. IN 2009 she was the most searched Indian sportsperson on Google and in 2010, she was named in the list of the “33 women who made India proud” compiled by the Economic Times.

Where did she grow up?

Sania Mirza was born to Imran Mirza, a sports journalist, and his wife Nasima in Mumbai, Maharashtra on 15th November, 1986. Her family moved to Hyderabad shortly after her birth, where she would complete her schooling. Sania started playing tennis when she was six, and turned professional in 2003. She was trained by her father and initially by CK Bhupati – the father of tennis player Mahesh Bhupati.

What are some of her achievements?

Sania is the highest ranked female tennis player ever from India, with a career high of 27 in singles and 7 in doubles. She is the third Indian woman to have featured at a Grand Slam tournament.

In her junior career, Sania won 10 singles and 13 doubles titles. She also won the 2003 Wimbledon Championships Girls’ Doubles title, partnering Alisa Kleybanova.

Asian Games

At the 2006 Doha Asian Games, Sania picked up Gold in the mixed doubles event and silver in the women’s singles event.

U.S. Open

Mirza had had the best results of her career during the 2007 summer hard court season, finishing eighth in the 2007 U.S. Open Series standings. She reached the semifinals at Cincinnati. She also reached the final of the Bank of the West Classic and won the doubles event with Shahar Pe’er, and reached the quarterfinals of the Tier 1 Acura Classic.

At the 2007 U.S. 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.

Although Sania Mirza hasn’t really won many major international tournaments, she continues to inspire many in India, especially girls who would like to emulate her. She is a role model to many upcoming tennis players from the country.

Short biographies of famous sports people for kids, visit: https://mocomi.com/learn/culture/famous-people/sports/