Sania Mirza changed the face of Indian tennis. She is currently World No 1 and will I be representing India at Rio Olympics 2016 in Women’s Doubles and Mixed Doubles events. Sania, is currently World No. 1 in Women’s Doubles, will partner Prarthana Thombare, is all set to launch for a book today. The book will be launched by Shah Rukh Khan and Salman Khan, a first for the two Bollywood celebs too.
Here are 10 interesting tid bits about Sania:
1 Sania Mirza started playing tennis at the age of six coached by her father Imran Mirza. Imran put his own career as a journalist on the line to help his daughter chase her dreams.
2 As a youngster Roger Federer and Stefi Graf were her greatest inspirations, she idolized them and much like them she dreamed of winning the Grand Slam titles herself.
3 Sania was the third Indian women to play in the Open Era and win a round at a Grand Slam event. The first Indian player at Grand Slam was Nirupama Vaidyanathan at the 1998 Australian Open, and the second was Shikha Uberoi at the 2004 US Open. Sania put on a great performance in the 2005 Australian Open and reached the third round. It is one of the highest position ever achieved by an Indian woman at the Grand Slams in the singles event
4 Sania is the top-ranked player in women’s doubles tennis with her partner Swiss Martina Hingis. Her mixed doubles wins are many, she won the Australian Open (2009) and French Open (2012) with Mahesh Bhupathi. In 2014, Sania and her doubles partner Bruno Soares of Brazil won the clinched the US Open Mixed Doubles.
5 Sania represents the state of Telangana and has even established her tennis academy to coach young tennis players in Murthuzaguda.
6 In 2010 Sania was the most popular and searched celeb on Google. Sania is one of the most recognized Indians, internationally. She was named as ’50 Heroes of Asia’ by Time in October 2005.
7 Sania is one of the biggest supporters of women empowerment, and the UN has appointed her as the UN Women Goodwill Ambassador for South Asia.
8 Saina was always considered to be one of the brightest prospects in the world of tennis by the legends of the game during her junior days.
9 After her engagement with her childhood friend Sohrab Mirza broke, she got married to Pakistani cricketer Shoaib Malik in Hyderabad.
