Indian Tennis Player: Sania Mirza

Sania Mirza is an Indian professional tennis player. A former doubles world No. 1, she has won six Grand Slam titles in her career. She was born on 15 November 1986 in Mumbai, Maharashtra, India. She is the highest-ranked female player ever from India, peaking at world No. 27 in mid-2007. However, a major wrist injury forced her to give up her singles career and focus on the doubles circuit. Mirza was named one of the "50 Heroes of Asia" by Time in October 2005. She belongs to a Muslim family. Her father's name is Imran Mirza, a sports journalist and her mother's name is Naseema. Both her father and her mother worked in a printing business.

Shortly after her birth, her family moved to Hyderabad where she and her younger sister Anam were raised in a religious Sunni Muslim family. She was trained by her father. Mirza won 10 singles and 13 doubles titles as a junior player. She won the 2003 Wimbledon Championships Girls' Doubles title, partnering with Alisa Kleybanova. At her hometown event, the 2004 AP Tourism Hyderabad Open, Mirza was a wildcard entrant. She put up a good fight against the fourth seed and eventual champion Nicole Pratt in round one but lost in three sets. In August, she reached the third round at the Acura Classic, falling to Morigami. Mirza reached her second WTA final at the Forest Hills Tennis Classic, falling to Lucie Šafářová. Sania Mirza is the most successful female Indian tennis player in history. She was ranked India's No.1 player, both in singles and doubles, until she retired from singles in 2013.

By: Anirudha Sharma
Government Senior Secondary School, Bopara