Table of Contents
Sania Mirza is the single most influential sportsperson in women’s tennis in India. The girl from Hyderabad has got many laurels for India with her brilliant display of tennis. Along with Mahesh Bhupathi and Leander Paes, Sania Mirza has made her mark on the international circuit as one of India’s most grand slam-winning tennis players. Sania Mirza played her first international tournament of Tennis in 1999 when she represented India at the World Junior Championship in Jakarta. This blog explores the biography of Tennis sensation Sania Mirza.
Sania’s big break came in 2002 when Leander Paes decided to take her as his mixed doubles partner at the Asian Games. The duo went on to claim the bronze medal. The rise has been steady since then. In 2003, Sania who was 16 years then, made India proud by becoming the youngest and first-ever Indian to feature in the main draw of the girls’ doubles junior Wimbledon tennis championship and winning the Grand Slam title. Sania Mirza partnered with 13-year-old Russian Alisa Kleybanova and defeated Katerina Bohmova of the Czech Republic and Michaela Krajicek of the Netherlands 3-6, 6-2, 6-3. This victory came after a long haul of 51 years that an Indian girl figured again in the final of a Grand Slam. The last girl to do so was Rita Dabur, who had finished runner-up in the singles event in 1952.
Also Read | Top 7 Indian Tennis Players: The Legends of the Game
“For a girl to pick up a tennis racquet and to want to be a professional—it was unheard of. People thought it was a joke.”- Sania Mirza
India is a cricket-loving nation, always has been. But for a brief moment in recent history, everyone spoke about tennis. Indian sportsmen, critics, journalists, schoolchildren, and even religious leaders expressed their opinion about tennis. All thanks to one woman – Sania Mirza.
Also Read | Shafali Verma Cricketer Biography | Age | Stats | Career| Family
Sania Mirza Biography
| Name | Sania Mirza |
| Born | 15 November 1986 |
| Age | 36 years |
| Sport | Tennis |
| Turned Pro | February 2003 |
| Retired | February 2023 |
| Awards |
|
| Achievements |
|
Sania Mirza Family
Sania Mirza was born in Mumbai to a Sunni Muslim family. Her parents moved to Hyderabad when she was an infant. She started playing tennis at the age of 6 at Hyderabad’s Nizam Club. But soon the family could not afford the expense of the required equipment and travel. So, her father began coaching her himself.
Mirza has voiced her opinion against domestic violence, sexual assaults, female foeticide, and unequal pay on several occasions. In 2005, a group of Islamic clerics issued a fatwa against her, calling her skirts and t-shirts “un-Islamic” and “corrupting.” This did not dishearten her, she continued to fight for what she believed in, and her fan base kept growing.
She received an honorary degree of Doctor of Letters from the MGR Educational and Research Institute University, Chennai in 2008.
Sania Mirza Biography: Marriage
Sania Mirza found love across the border in Pakistan. But love knows no boundaries and doesn’t understand religion. She was 23 at the time of her marriage to cricketer Shoaib Malik.
Sania feels that it was destiny that had a significant role to play in their union. Speaking to India Today, Sania revealed that the two met in Hobart for the first time but it was Shoaib who had planned the meeting all along. In her autobiography, Ace Against Odds, Sania mentioned that Shoaib came into her life when she was going through a bad professional phase. The ace player also said that Shoaib only wanted to see her happy.
But there have been claims in recent days that Sania and Shoaib are getting divorced after 12 years of marriage. As per the close friends of the couple, they have been living separately, and only the paperwork is to be done. The rumors about the two getting separated have circulated for quite some time.
Also Read | Dutee Chand Biography: A magnificent tale that defies all stereotypes
Sania Mirza Son: Izhaan Mirza Malik
Mirza gave birth to a baby boy on October 30th, 2018, and named him Izhaan Mirza Malik. Sania Mirza and her husband Shoaib Malik announced this on their social media pages.
“Excited to announce: It’s a boy, and my girl is doing great and keeping strong as usual #Alhumdulilah. Thank you for the wishes and Duas, we are humbled. #BabyMirzaMalik,” said Malik in his tweet.
View this post on Instagram
Sania Mirza Achievements
- 2003– Sania Mirza won the 2003 Wimbledon Championships Girls`doubles title along with Alisa Kleybanova of Russia.
- 2004– She was the runner-up at the Asian Tennis Championship.
- 2005– She became the first Indian woman to reach the 4th round of a Grand Slam tournament at the U.S. Open. Moreover, 2005 turned out to be a great year for her as she reached the third round of the Australian Open. In the same year, she became the first Indian woman to win a WTA singles title.
- 2006 – At the 2006 Doha Asian Games, Sania won the silver in the women`s singles category and the gold in the mixed doubles with Leander Paes.
- 2007 – At the 2007 U.S. Open, Sania reached the 3rd round in the singles and reached the quarterfinals of the mixed doubles with Mahesh Bhupathi.
- 2008 – Sania qualified for the third round at the Australian Open. She was also the runner-up in the mixed doubles category with her partner, Mahesh Bhupathi.
- 2009 – Sania bagged her first Grand Slam (mixed doubles) title at the Australian Open with Mahesh Bhupathi. She also reached the Pattaya Women`s Open Tournament final held in Bangkok.
- 2010 – Won the Guangzhou International Women’s Open held in China.
- 2011 – She was the runner-up at the French Open women’s doubles with Russia’s Elena Vesnina.
- 2012 – Won the mixed doubles French Open title with Mahesh Bhupathi.
- 2013 – Toray Pan Pacific Open (Japan) and China Open double titles with Cara Black.
- 2014 – Won the US Open Mixed Doubles title with Brazilian Bruno Soares and was the runner-up at the Australian Open with Horia Tecău from Romania.
- 2015 – Won the Wimbledon and French Open women’s mixed doubles title with the current world no. 3, Martina Hingis.
Read Also | Cricket vs Bollywood | Name, Fame & Game
Read Also | - 2016 – She was the runner-up at the mixed doubles event of the French Open with Croatian Ivan Dodig and she won the women’s doubles title at the Australian Open with Martina Hingis.
- 2017 – Sania continued her outstanding career by finishing as the runner-up at the Australian Open (mixed doubles) with Ivan Dodig. She also reached the finals of Sydney International and Miami Open with her partner, Barbora Strýcová.
- Sania Mirza has represented India at the Olympics 4 times – in Beijing (2008), London (2012), Rio (2016) and Tokyo (2021). She earned the gold medal for India at the 2006 and 2014 Asian Games, and the 2003 Afro-Asian Games.
- Sania has a plethora of awards to her name, most importantly, the Arjuna Award (2004), Padma Shri (2006), Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna (2015), and Padma Bhushan (2016). She was named the New Comer of the Year in 2005 by the Women’s Tennis Association.
- 2022 – She made it to the semifinals stages at the WTA 1000 Qatar Open and the Italian Open, as well as the French Open third round, partnering with Lucie Hradecká.
- Canadian Open: She reached the quarterfinals of a WTA 1000 level partnering Madison Keys where they beat top seeds Elise Mertens and Veronika Kudermetova. In the next round, they beat Sofia Kenin and Yulia Putintseva to reach the semifinals.
Sania Mirza Awards
- Arjuna Award (2004)
- WTA Newcomer of the Year (2005)
- Padma Shri (2006)
- Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna (2015)
- BBC list of 100 inspiring women (2015)
- Padma Bhushan (2016)
- NRI of the Year (2016)
- Pinkvilla Style Icons Awards – Super Glam Sports Star of the Year (2023)
Sania Mirza Social Media
View this post on Instagram
View this post on Instagram
View this post on Instagram
Thank you @cnnnews18 for the honor for ‘Outstanding achievement Indian of the Year’ ..
— Sania Mirza (@MirzaSania) October 13, 2022
Thank you to @official.anuragthakur sir for the very kind words.. it was a pleasure and honor to be part of this amazing evening amongst the best in their fields 💜 pic.twitter.com/hZ4DuFwbb3
Nobody is getting over this 💔 🥺 https://t.co/GkWm9jV7rB
— Sania Mirza (@MirzaSania) September 24, 2022
Indian Tennis sensation Sania Mirza, from 2003 until her retirement from singles in 2013, was ranked by the Women’s Tennis Association as the Indian No. 1 in singles.
The couple got married in a Hyderabadi traditional nikah ceremony in 2010. It is being said that they are living separately and are co-parenting their son.
Sania Mirza and her husband Shoaib Malik have been in the news for their separation since some time now, but the couple is yet to officially comment on the same.
Izhaan Mirza Malik is the son of Tennis star Sania Mirza who was born on October 30, 2018.
