Sania Mirza Biography
Sania Mirza was born in Mumbai, India on the 15th November, 1986 to Mr. Imran Mirza and Naseema. Saniya Mirza’s father Imran was a sports journalist previously after that he went into the printing business and finally he became a builder and her mother Naseema was associated with the printing industry. The family later relocated themselves in the city of Hyderabad. Saniya Mirza got her schooling from Nasr School Khairatabad and passed her SSC examination with first division securing 63% marks.
Malik had initially denied marrying Siddiqui before Muslim elders negotiated a divorce settlement
Saniya Mirza has got a younger sister by the name of Anam. Saniya was drawn to the lawn tennis by her father; she started playing tennis at the tender age of six at Nizam Club Hyderabad. When Saniya was first taken to the coach he refused to coach her, later on after a week he called up the parents of Saniya and told them that he has never seen such a talent at such a tender age. Her initial training was handled by CK Bhupati father of Mahesh Bhupati, the legendary Indian tennis player.
Sania Mirza’s father was unable to take care of the expenses of the training of Saniya therefore he approached some business houses for help, GVK industries and Adidas started to sponsor her from the age of 12 years. Later on her father Imran took over as her coach. Her physiotherapist is Badrinath.
Sania Mirza learnt the professional tennis at Sinnet Tennis Academy in Secunderabad after that she moved to the Ace Tennis Academy in the United States. Currently her professional career is being managed by Global Sports, a company associated with Mahesh Bhupati and she has appointed Bob Brett who was previously the coach of Boris Becker as a specialist advisor.
Saniya Mirza started playing in international tournaments from the year 1999 when she first represented India in the World Junior Championship, Jakarta; after that Saniya went on to participate in the Asian Games in the year with Paes where she won a bronze medal. She again did India proud when she figured in the main draw for the girls doubles junior Wimbledon Tennis tournament with a 13 year old Russian player Alisa Kleybanova and won the Grand Slam title. Doing so Saniya became the first youngest Indian player to do so.
Sania Mirza has won 21 ITF titles till date. In the year 2005 Saniya Mirza created waves in the tennis world when she reached to the 3rd and 4th rounds of many Grand Slam tournaments. She has a very powerful forehand (Double handed backhand) and serves an array of strokes. She is greatly influenced by the German player Stefi Graff.
More About Sania Mirza
Mirza had called off her engagement to Mohammad Sohrab Mirza at the turn of the year
Indian tennis player Sania Mirza born to sports journalist father Imran Mirza and mother Naseema who works in printing business on 15 November, 1986 in Mumbai. Although born in the business capital of India in Mumbai, Sania grown up in Hyderabad in a religious Muslim family. She has younger sister named Anam. Sania has done schooling from Nasr School, Hyderabad and graduation from St. Mary's College. Her father and other family members coached her to play tennis.
At the early age of six, Sania began playing tennis. However she made her debut to professional circuit at the age of 16 in 2003. She was forced to play tennis in her childhood by her mother. Sania was used to go for swimming, passing tennis courts every day. One day her mother asked her why don't you play tennis in summer vacation because she had nothing to do except swimming for an hour or whatever? That's what impulse Sania to hold racket in her hand. Another turn in Sania Mirza's life to take tennis seriously is when her coach called her parents to say he'd never seen a player that good at such a young age. No wonder her powerful game made her favorite sports person in India.
In 2003, Sania made debut of career with India Fed Cup team, where she won all three singles matches. The same year she also won the Wimbledon Championships Girls' Doubles title partnering with Russian player Alisa Kleybanova. At the Asian Tennis Championship in 2004, she turned out as a runner up. Year 2005 build recognition to the tennis player when she became the first Indian woman to reach the 4th round of a Grand Slam event US Open over passing Mashona Washington, Maria Elena Camerin and Marion Bartoli in the earlier rounds. Also made a 3rd round appearance to another Grand Slam event Australian Open, where she loses to the former champion Serena Williams.
Sania won the first WTA title of her career- Hyderabad Open Finals on February 12, 2005 beating Alyona Bondarenko of Ukraine in the finals. Till 2006 September, Sania made three top 10 players Martina Hingis, Svetlana Kuznetsova, and Nadia Petrova to lose to her. Later when representing India at the Asian Games, Doha, 2006, Sania clinched a gold medal in mixed doubles teaming with Leander Paes, silver in both women's singles and Indian women's team.
Meanwhile she was also awarded by the Indian government with Arjuna Award in 2004 and Padma Shri in 2006. Arjuna Award is given to sport person for his/her outstanding performance in the sport, while Padma Shri is the fourth highest civilian honor of India given to people for their distinguished contribution to various fields like arts, literature, sports etc.
Being hard courts as her favorite surface, Sania displayed good results in 2007 hard-court season. She stands out 8th in US Open 2007 Series. Made final round appearance in singles at Bank of the West Classic, while won in the doubles event along with Shahar Peer. Also made a quarterfinal appearance to Tier 1 Acura Classic tournament. One more time reached 3rd round of US Open 2007. However shown better results in doubles, reaching quarterfinals of mixed and women's doubles.
In 2008, Sania participated in Beijing Olympics to represent India. In singles event she retired from a round of 64, however crashed out from doubles event from round of 16. On 2008-12-11, the ace Indian tennis player was honored with Doctor of Letters from MGR Educational and Research Institute University, Chennai. It's the same institute where Sania's niece Sonia Baig studies.
In 2009, Mirza won first Grand Slam tile along with compatriot Mahesh Bhupathi at Australian Open mixed doubles event. With this she became the first and only Indian woman to win a grand slam title. The highest career ranking of Sania Mirza till date is- 27 in singles and 18 in doubles.