S.Mirza

Sania Mirza in a traditional Indian saree
Country	Image:Flag of India.svg�India
Residence	Hyderabad, India
Date of birth	November 15, 1986
Place of birth	Mumbai, India
Height	1.71 m (5' 7 1/2")
Weight	130 lb. (59 kg)
Turned Pro	2003
Retired	N/A
Plays	Right (two-handed backhand)
Career Prize Money	$496,058
Singles
Career record:	141-59
Career titles:	1
Highest ranking:	31 (October 10, 2005)
Grand Slam results
Australian Open	3r (2005)
French Open	1r (2005, 2006)
Wimbledon	2r (2005)
U.S. Open	4r (2005)
Doubles
Career record:	85-46
Career titles:	2
Highest ranking:	No. 28 (August 21, 2006)
Infobox last updated on: September 10, 2006.

Sania Mirza ( Urdu: سانيا ميرزا) (born November 15, 1986) is an Indian tennis player. She was born in Mumbai and now resides 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 26 in doubles. She is now ranked 66th as of November 27th 2006.

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

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

Career highlights

• 2006 Bangalore Open (Hyderabad Open in the previous years) doubles: Won the tournament (partnering with Liezel Huber)
• 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) [1]
• After losing to Martina Hingis in Kolkata's Sunfeast Open, Sania defeats Hingis at the Korean Open on September 28 2006.

Titles (20)

Singles (13)

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

Doubles (7)

Performance Singles Timeline

Social causes

Sania Mirza (middle) receiving the Rajiv Gandhi Award for outsanding achievement for 2003-04

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, it's cricketers is well known, Sania seems to be at odds with the media baiting her regularly for what seems 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.^[2] The media has snubbed her for devoting more time for endorsements and social circuits instead of improving her game. It has been pointed out that Sania has changed four coaches in a year and she is on the verge of her fifth. 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. Sania has been snubbed by the media before the 2006 Sunfeast Open for openly suggesting that she can do without a proper fitness regimen by concentrating more on playing aggressive shots.^[3] Many in the Indian tennis fraternity feel this has been the constant bone of contention between Sania and her coaches. The media is increasingly painting her in the 'too-much-too-soon' category while she continues to be adamant about her potential.

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^[4], an unnamed religious scholar had issued a fatwa, saying that her attire is contrary to what is permitted by Islam.

Clothing

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

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

Sources

Usopen.org

External links

• WTA Tour profile for Sania Mirza
• Sania Mirza Unofficial Fansite

News, Information, etc. Picture Gallery

• Information About Sania Mirza

See also

• List of Wimbledon champions
• List of female tennis players

de:Sania Mirza fr:Sania Mirza hi:सानिया मिर्ज़ा ja:サニア・ミルザ pl:Sania Mirza fi:Sania Mirza ta:சானியா மிர்சா

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from Wikipedia

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from Wikipedia