When Sania Mirza competes in Tokyo next month, she will become the first Indian woman to compete in the four Olympics.
The 34-year-old tennis star made a victorious comeback in January last year, after giving birth to her first child, Izhaan, in 2018. She then won the Hobart International WTA event. She has a big summer ahead of her with appearances at Wimbledon and the Olympics.
Sania will compete in the Olympics using her protected world ranking of 9. However, this is the first time she will compete in the women’s doubles tournament with a partner who is also ranked in the top 100.
The tennis stalwart, who had teamed up with Sunitha Rao at Beijing 2008, Rushmi Chakravarthi at London 2012 and Prarthana Thombare at Rio 2016, will play with India’s highest-ranked doubles player (95) Ankita Raina.
The final countdown! ⏳ #Tokyo2020 kicks off in a month's time. #AITATennis 🇮🇳🎾 pic.twitter.com/mqw4Jxm8DC
— All India Tennis Association (@AITA__Tennis) June 23, 2021
The ace player began her grasscourt season this week at the WTA event in Eastbourne, and she is looking forward to competing in her fourth Olympics. Sania had to settle for an agonising fourth-place finish in the mixed doubles event at Rio 2016. She had teamed up with Rohan Bopanna.
#IND @MirzaSania/@rohanbopanna enter mixed double semis beating #GBR Andy Murray-Heather Watson 6-4, 6-4. Congrats! pic.twitter.com/qm7nqmUzMF
— Dept of Sports MYAS (@IndiaSports) August 13, 2016
Sania Mirza is a trailblazing athlete who nearly single-handedly placed Indian women’s tennis on the map around the world. She is a Padma Bhushan (2016) and Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna awardee (2015).
The Rio 2016 Olympics semi-finalist is now the most successful active doubles player, with 42 WTA doubles titles. Sania Mirza has had the majority of her success in doubles, despite being the only Indian to break into the top 30 of the WTA singles rankings. Martina Hingis’s partnership with her was very beneficial.
Career statistics :
Best finish at each of the four Grand Slams – singles:
Australian Open: 3rd Round (2005, 2008)
French Open: 2nd Round (2007, 2011)
Wimbledon: 2nd Round (2005, 2007, 2008, 2009)
US Open: 4th Round (2005)
Highest Ranking: No. 27
Best finish at each of the four Grand Slams – doubles:
Australian Open: Champion (2016)
French Open: Runner-up (2011)
Wimbledon: Champion (2015)
US Open: Champion (2015)
Highest Ranking: No. 1
Best finish at each of the four Grand Slams – mixed doubles:
Australian Open: Champion (2009)
French Open: Champion (2012)
Wimbledon: Quarterfinalist (2011, 2013, 2015)
US Open: Champion (2014)
Professional career:
Sania Mirza won 10 singles titles and 13 doubles trophies as a youngster when she first began her career. Her father was her first coach and instructor. He was a sports journalist himself. Sania became a professional player in 2003 after seeing success at the junior level.
1- Turning professional & first five years:
Sania Mirza began her professional career in 2003 at the AP Tourism Hyderabad Open in her hometown. She competed in the Qatar Ladies Cup, but was unlucky and lost in the first round of qualification. She then began to win matches in the Fed Cup, and she and Alisa Kleybanova won the Wimbledon Doubles title in 2003.
Sania Mirza won four times on the ITF Circuit. This earned her a spot in the 2005 Australian Open, where she won the first two rounds in straight sets. But she was knocked out of the event in the third round by Serena Williams, the World Champion. Following her loss, she went on to win her maiden WTA tournament, the AP Tourism Hyderabad Open, making her the first Indian woman to do so and win.
Sania Mirza was the first Indian woman to be seeded in the US Open, which she won in 2006. She also had the opportunity to play in the French Open for the first time. Her game, however, continued to improve with each competition she entered, and she began to reach new heights. She began the following year in 2007 on a high note, reaching the semi-finals of the Hobart International Tennis Tournament, the quarter-finals of the Banglore International Tennis Tournament, the second round of the Australian Open, and the semi-finals of the Pattaya International Tennis Tournament.
2- Grand Slam titles:
Sania Mirza began her 2008 season with victories in the Australian Open Singles and Australian Open Doubles, however, she was defeated by world-class players in both events. In the same year, she suffered wrist issues, forcing her to withdraw from all of the tournaments she had planned for the season.
She had a successful year in 2009. She did, however, lose in the second round of the Australian Open Singles. However, she and Mahesh Bhupati won their maiden Grand Slam, the Australian Doubles Championship. Later on, she was acclaimed for her on-field achievements with Mahesh, which led to her winning many more tournaments and trophies in the future.
Her victory was followed by a string of strong results in singles, including a run to the finals of the Pattaya Women’s Open. She went on to compete in the Wimbledon Championships in 2009, losing in the singles, doubles, and mixed doubles events. She was eliminated in the third round while playing with Chuang and Mahesh.
3- Major achievements:
Sania had another excellent combo in 2013-14. She was seen collaborating with Cara Black. And they both played in several US Open semi-finals, quarter-finals, and finals with her. In 2014, they achieved a historic victory by winning the WTA Finals, defeating Hseih Su-Wei and Peng Shuai.
Mirza went on to win her maiden mixed doubles US Open title with her partner Bruno Soares at the age of 28.
Mirza began her doubles season in 2015 with the world number 6 ranking and has steadily risen through the ranks throughout her career. After a successful pairing with Black, she began a new partnership with Hseih Su-Wei.
Sania’s next partner was Swiss national player Martina Hingis. Together, they won India Wells, Miami Open, Family Cup 2015, and reached the Italian Cup finals. Mirza became the first female world number one in doubles after their win at the Family Cup. Later, they won the Australian Open and the Wimbledon Championship Doubles together. That became Mirza’s third Grand Slam Title.
Many congratulations2 @MirzaSania & @mhingis 4winning doubles #MiamiOpen.This is deirstraight 2nd title together pic.twitter.com/Yts6TmgsVM #SAI
— SAIMedia (@Media_SAI) April 6, 2015
4- Winning Comeback in 2020:
Sania Mirza had been out of the professional game for two years. But in 2020, she returned to the field with Nadia Kichenok. In January, both of them competed in the Hobart International. However, due to Sania Mirza’s injury, they were eliminated in the first round of the Australian Open.
Those double titles feels 🥰
One year ago @MirzaSania and Nadia Kichenok paired up to defeat Zhang Shuai and Peng Shuai in the #HobartTennis doubles final 🙌#HobartTennisFlashbacks pic.twitter.com/VmxUSZoqCp
— Hobart International (@HobartTennis) January 18, 2021
Personal Life:
Sania was born in Mumbai but has spent the majority of her life in Hyderabad. Her father, Imran Mirza, has been her primary coach since she began playing tennis at the age of six.
In April 2010, Sania married Pakistani cricketer Shoaib Malik. He is a professional cricket player in Pakistan. Given their dual citizenship, the couple drew a lot of attention. Sania and her husband married in a Hyderabadi Muslim wedding in India and a Pakistani custom wedding in Sialkot, Pakistan on April 12, 2010.
With an Instagram post later that year, the pair revealed Mirza was expecting their first child. Shoaib also announced the birth of a baby boy named Izhaan Mirza Malik. Sania Mirza has been spotted spending the previous several years with her child. After her son turned one, she resumed her career.
Today was one of the most special days of my https://t.co/OmE4Vq7KlQ have my parents and my little baby boy wit me in my first match after so long..and we WON our first round.feel very grateful for the love I am receiving.. BELIEF!! Takes you places 🙃YES my baby boy,we did it💪🏽 pic.twitter.com/xxPQ4E2IFE
— Sania Mirza (@MirzaSania) January 14, 2020
Sania Mirza published her Autobiography “ACE AGAINST ODDS” in 2016. The book is all about her journey to becoming the Doubles World Number 1 player, with the struggles that she has faced on and off the field from being injured to being out of form. It also mentions some of the memorable encounters that she has had in life and how they have changed her life for the better.