Sania Mirza - Indian Tennis Player |
Sania Mirza (Nicknames & Misspelled names): Sania, Sanea, Indian Tennis Diva, Indian Woman Tennis Star, Saina, Tennis beauty, Mirza |
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Personal Information :: Biography :: Career Highlights :: Endorsements :: Proffessional Records :: Controversies :: Photo Gallery :: In the News |
Birth Name Sania Mirza
Height 5'7 1/2" (1.53m)
Sex Female
Nationality Indian
Birth Date 15-Nov-86
Birth Place Mumbai, India
Profession Tennis Player
Education Attended her primary school education in Hyderabad
She learnt the professional game at Sinnet Tennis Academy in Secunderabad, AAndra Pradesh, India
She learnt the professional game at Ace Tennis Academy in the USA
Other Interests Swimming, Music(Rap and Hindi Remix)
Father Imran Mirza(a sports journalist )
Mother Nasima Mirza
Coach G.C.K Bhupathi(Her initial professional coach)
Biography Sania Mirza
Sania Mirza is a tennis diva from India. She is a very popular name in India, favourite among youths. Sania is a hard-working, overachieving phenom who has stayed remarkably down-to-earth. This tennis sensation is dispatching foes at a historic rate. Sania is the first Indian woman to advance to the fourth round of a Grand Slam tournament, the first to win a WTA singles title and the first to win a junior Grand Slam title.
Earlier Days:
Born in Mumbai on November 15, 1986 to Imran and Nasima Mirza, Sania started playing tennis at the age of six. Sania's father Imran Mirza and mother Nasima were watching a Steffi Graf and Conchita Martinez battle, when they decided to make their daughter a tennis star. She started practicing under CK Bhupati, Mahesh Bhupati's father and first started playing tennis at the Nizam club in Hyderabad. She learnt the professional game at Sinnet Tennis Academy in Secunderabad before finally moving to Ace Tennis Academy in the USA.
International Career:
Sania played her first international tournament in 1999 when she represented India at the World junior Championship at Jakarta. She has also appeared till the semifinal round of the French Open girls' doubles and in the girls' singles at Wimbledon where she suffered a second round defeat. Back in 2003, Sania defeated Katerina Bohmova of the Czech Republic and Michaela Krajicek of the Netherlands 3-6, 6-2, 6-3 in the junior girls' doubles to become the first Indian to win a women's Grand Slam title. Sania partnered 13-year-old Russian Alisa Kleybanova.
It was after 51 years that an Indian girl figured in the final of a Grand Slam, the last being Rita Dabur, who had finished runner-up in the singles event in 1952.
Becoming Diva:
In 2003, the then Minister for Health and Family Welfare, Sushma Swaraj, announced the appointment of teenager Sania Mirza, as the brand Ambassador for the Government's 'Save the Girl Child' campaign. The 18-year-old tennis player hit to fame when she entered the third round of the Australian Open Tennis woman's tournament and went down to Serena Williams, but only after a spirited tennis court match. Sania has emerged not just a superb sportsperson, but a youth icon.
Professional Records :
Professional Since | 2003 |
Playing Style | Right Handed (two-handed backhand) |
Singles | |
Career record: | 169-76 |
Career titles: | 1(as of August 31,2007) |
Highest ranking: | No. 29 (August 17, 2007) |
Doubles | |
Career record: | 108-53 |
Career titles: | 6(as of August 31,2007) |
Highest ranking: | No. 25 (August 17, 2007) |
Contoversy :
- Dress Sense: Hackles have been raised in some Islamist quarters supposedly due to her attire not being conformant to Islamic Hijab. 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. A further report published the next day on this fatwa elaborated that Sania was unfazed by the comments made by Syed Yousaf Bin, the chief patron of the Ulema Board, in Hyderabad. Large numbers of Muslims clerics protested her attire, accusing her of being a "corrupting inflence on the youth". She has been widely attacked and villified in radical 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." Radical Islamist groups such as Jamiat-ulema-e-Hind allegedly threatened to disrupt her tennis matches, following which the Calcutta police had to heighten security measures to protect her.
- Israeli Doubles Partner: In 2006, Some newspapers reported that Mirza declined from playing with an Israeli tennis player Shahar Peer for fear of violent protests from India's radical Muslim clerics and their opposition to the existence of Israel. However , these reports were dismissed by Mirza as "baseless" and in 2007, Shahar Peer and Mirza teamed up again at Wimbledon.
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