Sania Mirza

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

You have new messages (last change).
Sania Mirza
Country Flag of India India
Residence Hyderabad, India
Date of birth November 15, 1986
Place of birth Mumbai, India
Height 1.73 m (5' 8")
Weight 126 lb. (57 kg)
Turned Pro 2003
Retired N/A
Plays Right (two-handed backhand)
Career Prize Money $569,759
Singles
Career record: 152-65
Career titles: 1
Highest ranking: 31 (October 10, 2005)
Grand Slam results
Australian Open 3r (2005), 2r (2007)
French Open 1r (2005, 2006)
Wimbledon 2r (2005)
U.S. Open 4r (2005)
Doubles
Career record: 92-48
Career titles: 3
Highest ranking: No. 24 (November 13, 2006)

Infobox last updated on: January 17, 2007.

Sania Mirza (born November 15, 1986) is an Indian tennis player. She was born in Mumbai but brought up in Hyderabad. Coached by her father Imran Mirza, she began playing tennis at the age of six, turning professional in 2003. She was the highest ranked female tennis player ever from India, with career high rankings of number 31 in singles and 24 in doubles. She is now ranked 48th in singles and 23rd in doubles as of January 29th 2007.

She became the first Indian woman to reach the fourth round of a Grand Slam tournament at the 2005 US Open, defeating Mashona Washington, Maria Elena Camerin and Marion Bartoli. In 2004, she finished runner up at the Asian Tennis Championship. In 2005 Mirza reached the third round of the Australian Open, losing to eventual champion Serena Williams. On February 12, 2005, she became the first Indian woman to win a WTA singles title, defeating Alyona Bondarenko of Ukraine in the Hyderabad Open Finals.

Sania won the Wimbledon Championships Girls' Doubles title in 2003, teaming up with Alisa Kleybanova of Russia.

As of September 2006, Sania has notched up three top 10 wins against Svetlana Kuznetsova, Nadia Petrova and Martina Hingis.

At the 2006 Doha Asian Games, Sania 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.

She has stated that one of her best friends is fellow WTA tour player, Anna Chakvetadze.

Contents

[edit] Career highlights

  • 2006 15th Asian games, Doha, Qatar: Mixed doubles - won gold medal for India partnering Leander Paes. They beat Japan's Satoshi Iwabuchi and Akiko Morigami 7-5, 5-7, 6-2
  • 2006 15th Asian games, Doha, Qatar: Singles - won silver medal loosing to China's Jie Zheng 4-6, 6-1, 1-6
  • 2006 15th Asian games, Doha, Qatar: Team Tennis - won Silver medal for India pairing Shikha Uberoi. They lost to Chinese Taipei team.
  • 2006 Sunfeast Kolkata Open singles: reached semi-finals, losing to eventual champion, Martina Hingis 6-1 6-0
  • 2006 Sunfeast Kolkata Open doubles: Won the tournament partnering Liezel Huber. They beat Yulia Fedak and Yuliana Beygelzeimer 6-4 6-0
  • 2006 Bangalore Open (Hyderabad Open in the previous years) doubles: Won the tournament (partnering with Liezel Huber)
  • 2006 Won Silver medal in Qatar Asian Games 2006 Women's singles final and Gold medal in mixed doubles (partnering with Leander Paes)
  • 2005 Japan Open: reaches the semi-finals of women's singles and doubles (partnering Shahar Peer of Israel); reaches her highest doubles ranking of 114.
  • 2005 US Open: reaches 4th round by defeating Marion Bartoli of France in straight sets (7-6(4), 6-4) before losing to top seed Maria Sharapova 6-2, 6-1. Voted Best Player of the day on the 3rd day for winning her 2nd round match despite bleeding toes.
  • 2005 Forest Hills Women's Tennis Classic, New York: reaches her second WTA final but fails to win
  • 2005 Acura Classic: upsets Nadia Petrova in 2nd round but loses in the third round to Akiko Morigami of Japan (2-6,6-4,4-6). By beating the 8th-ranked Petrova, she breaks into top 50 in world rankings for the first time ever.
  • 2005 Dubai Tennis Championships: Upset reigning US Open Champion Svetlana Kuznetsova 6-4, 6-2 in 2nd round to reach the quarter-finals
  • 2005 Hyderabad Open singles: Won the tournament defeating Alyona Bondarenko of Ukraine 6-4, 5-7, 6-3 in the final and became the first Indian woman to capture a WTA singles title.
  • 2005 Australian Open singles: 3rd round: Became first Indian woman to reach the 3rd round of a Grand Slam tournament.
  • 2004 Hyderabad Open doubles: Won the tournament (partnering with Liezel Huber) to become the youngest Indian to win a WTA or ATP tour title and the first Indian woman to capture a WTA tour title. entered the singles as wild card but lost in the first round to the eventual winner Nicole Pratt.
  • 2003 Wimbledon Championships Juniors doubles: Won the tournament (partnering with Alisa Kleybanova) to become the youngest Indian and the first Indian woman to win a junior Grand Slam title.
  • 2003 Afro-Asian Games: won four gold medals - Women's singles, Mixed doubles (with Mahesh Bhupathi), Women's doubles and Women's team events (the last two golds in partnership with Rushmi Chakravarthy) [http://www.rediff.com/sports/2003/oct/31bhup.h

[edit] Titles (20)

Sania Mirza at the Hyderabad Open in 2006
Sania Mirza at the Hyderabad Open in 2006

[edit] Singles (13)

Legend (Singles)
Tier I (0)
Tier II (0)
Tier III (0)
Tier IV (1)
Grand Slam Title (0)
WTA Tour Championship (0)
ITF Circuit (12)
No. Date Tournament Surface Opponent in the final Score
1. Jan. 7, 2002 ITF/Manila, Philippines Hard Flag of Uzbekistan Akgul Amanmuradova 6-0 4-6 6-3
2. Sep. 22, 2002 ITF/ Hyderabad, India Hard Flag of Uzbekistan Akgul Amanmuradova 6-1 6-2
3. Nov. 10, 2002 ITF/Manila, Philippines Hard Flag of Chinese Taipei I-Ting Wang 2-6 6-4 7-5
4. Feb. 23, 2003 ITF/Benin City, Nigeria Hard Flag of Germany Franziska Etzel 6-3 6-3
5. Mar. 3, 2003 ITF/Benin City, Nigeria Hard Flag of South Africa Anca Anastasiu 6-1 7-5
6. Oct. 5, 2003 ITF/Jakarta, Indonesia Hard Flag of India Rushmi Chakravarthi 6-3 7-5
7. Feb. 1, 2004 ITF/Boca Raton, USA Hard Flag of United States Cory Ann Avants 6-3 6-2
8. May 30, 2004 ITF/Campobasso, Italy Clay Flag of Romania Magda Mihalache 6-3 6-4
9. Aug. 8, 2004 ITF/Wrexham, Great Britain Hard Flag of Russia Irina Boulykina 1-6 6-4 6-1
10. Aug. 15, 2004 ITF/London, Great Britain Hard Flag of Australia Jaslyn Hewitt 4-6 6-1 6-0
11. Oct. 10, 2004 ITF/Lagos, Nigeria Hard Flag of United States Tiffany Dabek 6-3 5-7 6-3
12. Oct. 17, 2004 ITF/Lagos, Nigeria Hard Flag of South Africa Chanelle Scheepers 4-6 7-6 7-5
13. Feb. 12, 2005 Hyderabad, India Hard Flag of UkraineAlona Bondarenko 6-4 5-7 6-3

[edit] Doubles (7)

Legend (Doubles)
Tier I (0)
Tier II (0)
Tier III (2)
Tier IV (1)
Grand Slam Title (0)
WTA Tour Championship (0)
ITF Circuit (4)
No. Date Tournament Surface Partner Opponents in the final Score
1. Jan. 7, 2002 Manila, Philippines Hard Flag of India Radhika Tulpule Flag of People's Republic of China Yan-Hua Dong and Flag of People's Republic of China Yao Zhang 6-4 6-3
2. Mar. 3, 2003 Benin City, Nigeria Hard Flag of United Kingdom Rebecca Dandeniya Flag of Germany Franziska Etzel and Flag of Austria Christina Obermoser 6-3 6-0
13. Feb. 22, 2004 Hyderabad, India Hard Flag of South Africa Liezel Huber Flag of People's Republic of ChinaTing Li and Flag of People's Republic of ChinaTian Tian Sun 7-6 6-4
4. Aug. 15, 2004 London, Great Britain Hard Flag of India Rushmi Chakravarthi Flag of United Kingdom Anna Hawkins and Flag of South Africa Nicole Rencken 6-3 6-2
5. Oct. 10, 2004 Lagos, Nigeria Hard Flag of New Zealand Shelley Stephens Flag of South Africa Surina De Beer and Flag of South Africa Chanelle Scheepers 6-1 6-4
6. February 19, 2006 Bangalore, India Hard Flag of South Africa Liezel Huber Flag of Russia Anastassia Rodionova and Flag of Russia Elena Vesnina 6-3 6-3
7. September 24, 2006 Kolkata, India Carpet Flag of South Africa Liezel Huber Flag of Ukraine Yulia Beygelzimer and Flag of Ukraine Yuliana Fedak 6-4 6-0

[edit] Performance Singles Timeline

Tournament 2007 2006 2005 2004 2003 2002 2001
Australian Open 2r 2r 3r - - - -
Roland Garros 1r 1r - - - -
Wimbledon 1r 2r - - - -
US Open 2r 4r - - - -
WTA Tour Championships - - - - - -
WTA Finals reached - 2 - - - -
WTA Tournaments Won - 1 - - - -
ITF Tournaments Won - - 6 3 3 -
Win-Loss (including ITF) - 8-2 50-8 20-5 20-4 6-3
Year End Ranking 66 34 206 399 837 987

[edit] Social causes

This article or section is not written in the formal tone expected of an encyclopedia article.
Please improve it or discuss changes on the talk page. See Wikipedia's guide to writing better articles for suggestions.

Sania has been an advocate and a role model for women's empowerment, on a scale of public visibility never seen before. True to her phenom-credentials she has diligently been media-savvy and has clearly shown a determined face in spite of all the criticism. Many point out that her handling of the dress-fatwa issue has been non-confrontational, something political bigwigs have been fast to exploit. In India, Sania has been projected using a soft-approach by the State and Central governments by making her the posterchild of female empowerment;- this has made Sania into a highly publicised and presentable personality.

[edit] Media Criticism

While she initially caught the attention of the media and the public with her in-your-face no-holds-barred attitude with a penchant for t-shirts with strong punchlines, Sania's drop in performance hasn't kept pace with her attitude. While the pressure on the country's premier-sportsmen, its cricketers, is well known, Sania seems to be at odds with the media baiting her regularly for what it perceives to be Sania's unmotivated approach to tennis. Sania has recently quipped that even though she probably would never win a Grand Slam in her career or may not even find herself in the top-rung of the seeds, she is enjoying tennis and everything that comes with it.[1] Indian national coach Enrico Piperno has commented that its high-time Sania got a proper coach who could help improve her game substantially to have any hope of winning titles. Many in the Indian tennis fraternity feel this has been the constant bone of contention between Sania and her coaches.

[edit] Controversy

Hackles have been raised in some quarters supposedly due to her attire not being in line with her Muslim background. According to one report published September 8, 2005[2], an unnamed religious scholar had issued a fatwa, saying that her attire is contrary to what is permitted by Islam.

[edit] Clothing

Sania's clothing is provided by Lotto Sport Italia. Her racquets are provided by Head.

[edit] References

  1. ↑ HTTabliod.com Sports Centre, 'Fatwa' issued against Sania's dress!, September 8, 2005.
  2. ↑ The Guardian, Fatwa orders Indian tennis star to cover up, September 10, 2005
  3. ↑ Hindustan Times Sports, Fatwa on Sania dress uncalled for: Shia Board, September 10, 2005
  4. India Today dt. 19 September 2005 - Cover Story titled Sania Mania.
  5. ↑ Yediot Aharonoth, Indian tennis star refuses to play with Israeli, February 16, 2005
  6. ↑ The Times Of India, Sania Mirza wants land, CM not game, September 16, 2006
  7. ↑ New Kerala, Grand Slam title is not my goal: Sania, September 15, 2006
  8. ↑ Sania Mirza's Lotto campaign sparks off protests in Hyderabad, September 19, 2006
  9. ↑ Sania's effigy burnt,September 19, 2006
  10. ↑ Hindustan Times,Fitness is not my forte: Sania,September 19, 2006
  11. ↑ Sania Mirza gets Padmashri,January 26, 2006

[edit] Sources

Usopen.org

[edit] External links

[edit] See also

Preceded by
Tatiana Golovin		 WTA Newcomer of the Year
2005		 Succeeded by
Agnieszka Radwanska


Women's Tennis Association | Top ten Asian female tennis players as of March 19, 2007
1. Na Li (China) (17) • 2. Ai Sugiyama (Japan) (24) • 3. Jie Zheng (China) (32) • 4. Shuai Peng (China) (40) • 5. Sania Mirza (India) (47) • 6. Akiko Morigami (Japan) (63) • 7. Aiko Nakamura (Japan) (64) • 8. Tamarine Tanasugarn (Thailand) (68) • 9. Tiantian Sun (China) (77) • 10. Varvara Lepchenko (Uzbekistan) (85)
Possible inclusions: Maria Sharapova (Russia) (2) (born in Asian part of bicontinental Russia) • Shahar Pe'er (Israel) (16) (Israel is considered part of Europe by the ITF) • Elena Likhovtseva (Russia) (50) (born in Kazakhstan, represents bicontinental Russia)
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org../../../s/a/n/Sania_Mirza_805a.html"