Sania Mirza | ||
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Nickname(s) | Sania | |
Country | ![]() |
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Residence | Hyderabad, India | |
Date of birth | November 15, 1986 | |
Place of birth | Mumbai, India | |
Height | 1.71 m (5 ft 71⁄2 in) | |
Weight | 59 kg (130 lb/9.3 st) | |
Turned pro | 2003 | |
Plays | Right (two-handed backhand) | |
Career prize money | US$ 1,185,316 | |
Singles | ||
Career record: | 188–92 | |
Career titles: | 1 | |
Highest ranking: | No. 27 (August 27, 2007) | |
Grand Slam results | ||
Australian Open | 3r (2005, 2008) | |
French Open | 2r (2007) | |
Wimbledon | 2r (2005, 2007, 2008) | |
US Open | 4r (2005) | |
Doubles | ||
Career record: | 125–59 | |
Career titles: | 7 | |
Highest ranking: | No. 18 (September 10, 2007) | |
Mixed Doubles | ||
Career record: | {{{mixedrecord}}} | |
Career titles: | {{{mixedtitles}}} | |
Highest ranking: | {{{highestmixedranking}}} | |
Infobox last updated on: February 14, 2008. |
Medal record | |||
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Women's Tennis | |||
Asian Games | |||
Gold | 2006 Doha | Mixed Doubles | |
Silver | 2006 Doha | Singles | |
Silver | 2006 Doha | Team |
Sania Mirza (born November 15, 1986) is an Indian tennis player.
Contents |
Mirza was born to a sports journalist Imran Mirza and Nasima in Mumbai. She was brought up in Hyderabad. Mirza began playing tennis at the age of six, turning professional in 2003. She was trained by her father, as well as her other family members and was sponsored by the industrialist GV Krishna Reddy. She went to Nasr school in Hyderabad.And later joined St.Mary's college for her graduation.
Mirza 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 holds the distinction of being the first Indian woman to be seeded in a Grand Slam tennis tournament . Earlier in 2005, she had become 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 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. As of September 2006, Mirza has notched up three top 10 wins; against Svetlana Kuznetsova, Nadia Petrova and Martina Hingis. 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.
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 an impressive win over number two seeds Lisa Raymond and Samantha Stosur.
She represented India at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, in the women's singles and doubles events. In singles, she retired in the round of 64, while she was trailing 1-6, 1-2 against Iveta Benešová of Czech Republic. She teamed up with Sunitha Rao for the doubles event. They got a walk-over in the round of 32, but lost to Russia's Svetlana Kuznetsova and Dinara Safina by 4-6, 4-6, in the round of 16.
Reached QF at Hobart (as No.6 seed, l. to Pennetta in 3s);
reached 3r at Australian Open (as No.31 seed, l. to No.8 seed V.Williams 76(0) 64, having led 5-3 first set); also mixed doubles runner-up at Australian Open (w/Bhupathi; l. to T.Sun/Zimonjic).
Withdrew from Pattaya City w/left adductor strain; fell 1r at Doha (ret. vs. Govortsova w/cramping); reached 2r at [Dubai]] (as WC, l. to No.4 seed Jankovic 46 63 64, having led 3-1 third set).
Reached 4r at Indian Wells (as No.21 seed, d. No.9 seed Peer en route; l. to No.5 seed Hantuchova; win over world No.18 Peer was first Top 20 win of year);
withdrew from Miami w/right wrist injury.
Withdrew from Amelia Island w/right wrist injury;
underwent right wrist injury on April 10 (expected to miss four weeks).
Withdrew from Rome, Strasbourg and Roland Garros w/right wrist injury.
Back-to-back 2r finishes at Birmingham (as No.6 seed w/1r bye, l. to Erakovic), 's-Hertogenbosch (d. No.5 seed Pennetta in 1r; l. to Krajicek) and Wimbledon (as No.32 seed, l. to qualifier Martinez Sanchez 60 46 97, having led 4-2 third set w/4mp - 1mp leading 5-4 and 3mp leading 6-5).
Fell 1r at Stanford (l. to qualifier Keothavong 76(4) 61, having held sp leading 6-5 first set);
reached 2r at Los Angeles (as No.16 seed, l. to Yuan);
reached 2r at Stockholm (as No.6 seed, l. to Benesova in 3s).
Fell 1r at Olympics (ret. vs. Benesova w/right wrist injury);
withdrew from New Haven and US Open w/right wrist injury.
Withdrew from Guangzhou, Seoul and [[Tokyo [Japan Open]]] w/right wrist injury.
Withdrew from Quebec City w/right wrist injury.
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Legend (Doubles) |
Grand Slam Title (0) |
WTA Tour Championship (0) |
Tier I (0) |
Tier II (2) |
Tier III (3) |
Tier IV (2) |
ITF Circuit (4) |
No. | Date | Tournament | Surface | Partner | Opponents in the final | Score |
1. | January 7, 2002 | Manila, Philippines | Hard | ![]() |
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6–4, 6–3 |
2. | Mar. 3, 2003 | Benin City, Nigeria | Hard | ![]() |
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6–3, 6–0 |
3. | Feb. 22, 2004 | Hyderabad, India | Hard | ![]() |
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7–6, 6–4 |
4. | Aug. 15, 2004 | London, Great Britain | Hard | ![]() |
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6–3, 6–2 |
5. | Oct. 10, 2004 | Lagos, Nigeria | Hard | ![]() |
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6–1, 6–4 |
6. | February 19, 2006 | Bangalore, India | Hard | ![]() |
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6–3, 6–3 |
7. | September 24, 2006 | Kolkata, India | Carpet | ![]() |
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6–4, 6–0 |
8. | May 14, 2007 | Fes, Morocco | Clay | ![]() |
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6–1, 6–2 |
9. | July 22, 2007 | Cincinnati, U.S. | Hard | ![]() |
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7–6(4), 7–5 |
10. | July 29, 2007 | Stanford, U.S. | Hard | ![]() |
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6–4, 7–6(5) |
11. | August 25, 2007 | New Haven, U.S. | Hard | ![]() |
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6-2- 6-2 |
Tournament | 2008 | 2007 | 2006 | 2005 | 2004 | 2003 | 2002 | 2001 |
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Australian Open | 3r | 2r | 2r | 3r | - | - | - | - |
Roland Garros | A | 2r | 1r | 1r | - | - | - | - |
Wimbledon | 2r | 2r | 1r | 2r | - | - | - | - |
US Open | 3r | 2r | 4r | - | - | - | - | |
WTA Tour Championships | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
WTA Finals reached | 1 | - | 2 | - | - | - | - | |
WTA Tournaments Won | - | - | 1 | - | - | - | - | |
ITF Tournaments Won | - | - | 1 | 6 | 3 | 3 | - | |
Win-Loss (including ITF) | 30-19 | 20-24 | 33-20 | 50-8 | 20-5 | 20-4 | 6-3 | |
Year End Ranking | 30 | 66 | 34 | 206 | 399 | 837 | 987 |
As a Muslim, she has garnered criticism from some Orthodox Islamic groups, as her attire allegedly did not conform to Islamic dress codes. According to one report published September 8, 2005, an unnamed Islamic scholar had issued a fatwa, saying that her attire is contrary to what is permitted by Islam.[1] A further report published the next day on this fatwa elaborated that Mirza was unfazed by the comments [2] Large numbers of Muslim clerics protested her attire, accusing her of being a "corrupting influence on the youth."[3] She has been widely attacked and vilified in Islamist circles, including a cleric named Haseeb-ul-hasan Siddiqui who said "The dress she wears on the tennis courts…leaves nothing to the imagination, She will undoubtedly be a corrupting influence.".[4] Islamist groups such as Jamiat-ulema-e-Hind allegedly threatened to disrupt her tennis matches, following which the Calcutta police had to tighten security measures to protect her.[5] Mirza, a Muslim from Banjara Hills, also attracted a response from the Major Shia Organization in India, The All-India Shia Muslim Personal Law Board. The Board disapproved the edict issued by some Muslim clerics on dresses worn by Mirza while playing, and asked them not to meddle in the sports arena.
In 2006, some newspapers reported that Mirza declined from playing with an Israeli tennis player Shahar Pe'er for fear of violent protests from India's Muslim clerics and their opposition to the existence of Israel.[3] Mirza said in January 2008 that she considered quitting the sport because of undue controversy surrounding her actions. Mirza was pictured resting her feet during a press conference at the 2008 Hopman Cup, with an Indian flag in close proximity.[6] She faced possible prosecution under the Prevention of Insults to National Honour Act after a private citizen complained. Mirza protested that, "I love my country, I wouldn't be playing Hopman Cup otherwise", and said that she meant no disrespect. On February 4, 2008, Mirza said that she would stop appearing in tennis tournaments held in India, starting with the 2008 Bangalore Open the following month, citing the series of controversies and upon advice by her manager.[7]
Preceded by Tatiana Golovin |
WTA Newcomer of the Year 2005 |
Succeeded by Agnieszka Radwańska |
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