Sania Mirza

Sania Mirza (Urdu: ثانیہ مرزا), born November 15, 1986,[4] is an Indian tennis player. She began her tennis career in 2003. In 2004, she was given the Arjuna award by the Indian Government. She is known for her powerful forehand ground strokes.

Sania Mirza
Sania Mirza at Citi Open Tennis July 30, 2011.jpg
 Mirza playing in the 2011 Citi Open
Full nameSania Mirza
CountryIndia
ResidenceHyderabad, Telangana, India
Born (1986-11-15) 15 November 1986 (age 37)[1][2]
Mumbai, Maharashtra, India
Height1.73 metres (5 ft 8 in)[3]
CollegeSt. Mary's College
Dr. M.G.R. Educational and Research Institute
Turned proFebruary 2003
PlaysRight-handed (two-handed backhand)
Prize moneyUS$6,930,345[2]
Singles
Career record271–161 (62.73%)
Career titles1 WTA, 14 ITF
Highest rankingNo. 27 (27 August 2007)
Grand Slam Singles results
Australian Open3R (2005, 2008)
French Open2R (2007, 2011)
Wimbledon2R (2005, 2007, 2008, 2009)
US Open4R (2005)
Other tournaments
Olympic Games1R (2008)
Doubles
Career record492–214 (69.69%)
Career titles41 WTA, 4 ITF
Highest rankingNo. 1 (13 April 2015)
Current rankingNo. 16 (19 March 2018)
Grand Slam Doubles results
Australian OpenW (2016)
French OpenF (2011)
WimbledonW (2015)
US OpenW (2015)
Other Doubles tournaments
ChampionshipsW (2014, 2015)
Olympic Games2R (2008)
Mixed Doubles
Career titles3
Grand Slam Mixed Doubles results
Australian OpenW (2009)
French OpenW (2012)
WimbledonQF (2011, 2013, 2015)
US OpenW (2014)
Other Mixed Doubles tournaments
Olympic GamesSF (2016)
Last updated on: 9 October 2017.
Sania Mirza
Medal record
Women's Tennis
Asian Games
Gold 2006 Doha Mixed Doubles
Silver 2006 Doha Singles
Silver 2006 Doha Team

Early life

Mirza was born to Imran Mirza, a sports journalist and his wife Nasima in Mumbai, India. She was brought up in Hyderabad in a Muslim family.[5] Mirza began playing tennis at the age of six, turning professional in 2003. She was trained by her father and other family members. She attended Nasr school in Hyderabad and later graduated from St. Mary's College.[6][7]

Personal life

Mirza married Pakistani cricketer Shoaib Malik on April 12, 2010.[8][9] Mirza received an honorary degree of Doctor of Letters from the MGR Educational and Research Institute University in Chennai on 2008-12-11.[10] Her niece, Sonia Baig Mirza, has studied there. She has a son, named Izaan Mirza Malik.

Career

In April 2003, Mirza made her debut in the India Fed Cup team, winning all three singles matches. She also won the 2003 Wimbledon Championships Girls' Doubles title, teaming up with Alisa Kleybanova of Russia.

Mirza is the highest ranked female tennis player ever from India, with a career high ranking of 27 in singles and 18 in doubles. She is the first Indian woman to be seeded in a Grand Slam tennis tournament. She was the first Indian woman to reach the fourth round of a Grand Slam tournament at the 2005 U.S. Open, defeating Mashona Washington, Maria Elena Camerin and Marion Bartoli. In winning, with Mahesh Bhupathi, the mixed doubles event at the 2009 Australian Open, she became the first Indian woman to win a Grand Slam title.

In 2005, Mirza reached the third round of the Australian Open, losing to the champion Serena Williams. On February 12, 2005, she became the first Indian woman to win a WTA singles title, beating Alyona Bondarenko of Ukraine in the Hyderabad Open Finals. At the 2006 Doha Asian Games, Mirza won the silver in the women's singles category and the gold in the mixed doubles partnering Leander Paes. She was also part of the Indian women's team that won the silver in the team event.

In 2006, Mirza was awarded a Padma Shri, India's fourth highest honor for her achievements as a tennis player.[11]

Mirza had the best results of her career during the 2007 summer hardcourt season, finishing eighth in the 2007 U.S. Open Series standings. She 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.

2008

Mirza reached the quarter-finals at Hobart as 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 7-6(0) 6-4, having led 5-3 in the first set. She was runner-up in the Australian Open mixed doubles partnering Mahesh Bhupathi. Sun Tiantian and Nenad Zimonjić won the final 7–6(4), 6–4.

She withdrew from Pattaya City because of a left adductor strain.

Mirza reached the 4r at Indian Wells as No.21 seed, defeating No.9 seed Shahar Pe'er en route, but lost to No.5 seed Daniela Hantuchová.

At the 2008 Wimbledon Championships, as No.32 seed, Mirza was defeated by qualifier Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez, 6-0, 4-6, 9-7, having had several match points.

Mirza was eliminated in the first round of the 2008 Beijing Olympics when she retired in her match against Iveta Benešová because of a right wrist injury. Throughout 2008, Mirza was plagued by a slew of wrist injuries, requiring her to withdraw from several matches and the Roland Garros and US Open Grand Slams.

2009

Mirza picked up her first Grand Slam title at the 2009 Australian Open. Partnered with Mahesh Bhupathi, she won the mixed doubles title beating Nathalie Dechy (France) and Andy Ram (Israel) 6-3, 6-1 in the final in Melbourne. She then entered the Pattaya Women's Open Tournament in Bangkok where she reached the finals after a string of good performances. She lost the finals to Vera Zvonareva 7-5, 6-1. 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 of France in the first round. Mirza and her doubles partner Chia-jung Chuang of Chinese Taipei made the semifinals of the doubles event. Mirza lost in the first round of the MPS Group Championships but won the doubles title with Chuang. She lost in the first round at Roland Garros, losing to Kazakhstan's Galina Voskoboeva. She also lost in the second round of the doubles (with Chuang) and mixed doubles (with Mahesh Bhupathi). She participated in the 2009 AEGON Classic and reached the semifinals, losing to Magdalena Rybarikova of Slovakia 3-6,6-0,6-3, who later won the title.

Mirza defeated Anna-Lena Gronefeld in the first round of the 2009 Wimbledon Championships. She then fell to #28 Sorana Cîrstea in the second round. She competed in and won the Lexington Challenger event, defeating top seed Julie Coin of France in the final. She also reached the final of the ITF event in Vancouver but lost to Stephanie Dubois of Canada. Playing in the U.S Open, she defeated Olga Govortsova in the first round but lost 6-0, 6-0 to 10th seed Flavia Pennetta of Italy. She also lost in the second round of the doubles event (partnering Francesca Schiavone) to Shahar Peer and Gisela Dulko.

Mirza successfully qualified for the Toray Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo but lost in the first round to Zheng Jie. Mirza won the first set but could not hold the lead, later losing to the Chinese player 7-5, 2-6, 3-6.

At Osaka, Mirza won her first round match against 5th seed Shahar Peer 3-6, 6-3, 6-4. Mirza then defeated Viktoriya Kutuzova 6-4, 6-3 and in the quarterfinal she defeated 2nd seed Marion Bartoli 6-4, 2-0 by retirement. Bartoli conceded her match and Mirza moved on to the semifinal to meet 4th seed Francesca Schiavone of Italy.

Career finals

Singles

Wins (1 WTA/12 ITF)

She has reached 5 finals; winning 1 at the 2005 Hyderabad Open.

 
Sania Mirza at the 2007 Australian Open, during her first-round women's doubles match

Doubles

Wins (12)

Legend: Before 2009 Legend: Starting in 2009
Grand Slam tournaments (0)
WTA Championships (0)
Tier I (0) Premier Mandatory (0)
Tier II (2) Premier 5 (0)
Tier III (3) Premier (0)
Tier IV & V (2) International (1)
ITF Circuit (4)
No. Date Tournament Surface Partner Opponents in the final Score
1. January 7, 2002 Manila, Philippines Hard   Radhika Tulpule   Dong Yanhua
  Zhang Yao
6–4, 6–3
2. Mar. 3, 2003 Benin City, Nigeria Hard   Rebecca Dandeniya   Franziska Etzel
  Christina Obermoser
6–3, 6–0
3. Feb. 22, 2004 Hyderabad, India Hard   Liezel Huber   Li Ting
  Sun Tiantian
7–6, 6–4
4. Aug. 15, 2004 London, Great Britain Hard   Rushmi Chakravarthi   Anna Hawkins
  Nicole Rencken
6–3, 6–2
5. Oct. 10, 2004 Lagos, Nigeria Hard   Shelley Stephens   Surina De Beer
  Chanelle Scheepers
6–1, 6–4
6. February 19, 2006 Bangalore, India Hard   Liezel Huber   Anastassia Rodionova
  Elena Vesnina
6–3, 6–3
7. September 24, 2006 Kolkata, India Carpet   Liezel Huber   Yulia Beygelzimer
  Yuliana Fedak
6–4, 6–0
8. May 14, 2007 Fes, Morocco Clay   Vania King   Andreea Vanc
  Anastassia Rodionova
6–1, 6–2
9. July 22, 2007 Cincinnati, U.S. Hard   Bethanie Mattek   Alina Jidkova
  Tatiana Poutchek
7–6(4), 7–5
10. July 29, 2007 Stanford, U.S. Hard   Shahar Pe'er   Victoria Azarenka
  Anna Chakvetadze
6–4, 7–6(5)
11. August 25, 2007 New Haven, U.S. Hard   Mara Santangelo   Cara Black
  Liezel Huber
6–2, 6–2
12. April 12, 2009 Ponte Vedra Beach, U.S. Clay   Chuang Chia-jung   Květa Peschke
  Lisa Raymond
6–3, 4–6, [10–7]

Mixed Doubles (1)

Wins (1)

Year Championship Partnering Opponents in Final Score/Final
2009 Australian Open   Mahesh Bhupathi   Nathalie Dechy
  Andy Ram
6–3, 6–1

Singles performance timeline

Performance key
W winner #R lost in the early rounds Z# Davis Cup Zonal Group (number) B semifinalist, won bronze medal
F runner-up RR lost at round robin stage PO Davis Cup play-off NH not held
SF semifinalist Q# lost in qualification round G won Olympic gold medal NMS Not a Masters Series event
QF quarterfinalist A absent S runner-up, won silver medal NPM Not a Premier Mandatory or 5 event
Update either at the conclusion of a tournament, or when the player's participation in the event has ended.
NM5 means an event that is neither a Premier Mandatory nor a Premier 5 tournament.
Tournament 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 Career SR Career
Win-Loss
Grand Slam Tournaments
Australian Open A 3R 1R 2R 3R 2R 0 / 4 7–4
French Open A A 1R 2R A 1R 0 / 3 7–3
Wimbledon A A 1R A 2R 2R 0 / 3 7–3
U.S. Open A 4R 2R 3R A 2R 0 / 3 6–3
SR 0 / 0 0 / 2 0 / 4 0 / 2 0 / 3 0 / 2 0 / 12 N/A
Win-Loss 0–0 2–2 9–4 5–2 4–3 1-1 N/A 21–12
Olympic Games
Summer Olympics A Not Held 1R NH 0 / 1 4–2
Year-End Championship
WTA Tour Championships A A A A A 0 / 0 0–0
WTA Premier Mandatory Tournaments
Indian Wells A A 4R SF A 4R 0 / 2 10–3
Miami A A 2R QF A QF 0 / 3 8–3
Madrid Not Held 2R 0 / 1 1–1
Beijing Not Tier I 0 / 0 0–0
WTA Premier 5 Tournaments
Dubai Not Tier I 1R 0 / 1 0–1
Rome A A A A A 1R 0 / 1 0–1
Cincinnati Not Tier I 0 / 0 0–0
Montreal/Toronto A 3R 1R A A 0 / 2 2–2
Tokyo A A A 2R 1R 0 / 2 1–2
Former WTA Tier I Tournaments (currently neither Premier Mandatory nor Premier 5 events)
Charleston A A A 3R A NM5 0 / 1 1–1
Moscow A A 1R A 1R 0 / 2 0–2
Doha1 Not Tier I SF Not
Held
0 / 1 4–1
Berlin A A SF 2R A 0 / 2 5–2
San Diego1 A A A A Not
Held
0 / 0 0–0
Zürich1 A A A A Not
Tier I
0 / 0 0–0
Career Statistics
Tournaments Won 1 0 0 0 1 0 N/A 2
Runner-up 0 1 1 0 0 2 N/A 4
Overall Win-Loss 6–1 23–14 40–21 23–13 29–15 21–10 N/A 127–632
Year End Ranking 80 57 21 29 23 N/A N/A
  • A = did not participate in the tournament
  • Q = Qualifying round loss

Green background for wins. Yellow background for top-8 (quarter finals up to finalist).

  • 1As of 2008, Doha is a Tier I tournament, replacing San Diego and Zurich.
  • 2 If ITF women's circuit participations are included, overall win-loss record stands at 272-89.

References

  1. "Celebrity Lens: Sania Mirza Measurements". 10 September 2015.
  2. 2.0 2.1 "WTA Rankings" (PDF).
  3. "Sania Mirza". Sports Reference. Archived from the original on 18 April 2020. Retrieved 15 December 2018.
  4. "Sania Mirza profile". Retrieved 2009-06-04.
  5. The enigma that is Sania Mirza- tennis star and so much more Sportingo.
  6. "Saniya Mirza - Biography of Sania". www.saniyamirza.org. Archived from the original on 2010-02-27. Retrieved 2010-04-30.
  7. "Sania Mirza - Tennis Player, Indian Sports personalities". webindia123.com.
  8. "HugeDomains.com - ArtsyHands.com is for sale (Artsy Hands)". www.hugedomains.com. {{cite web}}: Cite uses generic title (help)
  9. "Sania Mirza weds Shoaib Malik In Hyderabad".
  10. "Archive News". The Hindu.
  11. "Sania Mirza gets Padma Shri". Rediff. Retrieved March 9, 2009.