The only Indian women athlete to win the Women’s Tennis Association title and reach the singles rankings of the top 100 is a professional tennis athlete Sania Mirza who has been playing professionally since 2003.
Mirza has won six Grand Slam honors throughout her career, and in 2015 she became the first Indian to earn the world’s No. 1 place in WTA’s doubles rankings.
Likewise, the Women’s Tennis Association also ranked Mirza as India’s No. 1 player until she retired from singles.
Mirza has proved herself as one of the most successful Indian female athletes in the country. Mirza is also one of the highest-paid athletes in India.
Furthermore, in 2005, Sania won the WTA Newcomer of the year honors, and in 2015, she won the doubles team of the year award with Martina Hingis.
One of her significant achievements was becoming South Asia’s UN Women’s Goodwill Ambassador.
Moreover, let’s learn more about the life of a renowned tennis player. First, here are some quick facts about Sania Mirza.
Sania Mirza | Quick Facts
| Full Name | Sania Mirza |
| Birth Date | 15th November 1986 |
| Birth Place | Mumbai, India |
| Age | 37 Years Old |
| Nickname | Not Available |
| Religion | Muslim |
| Nationality | Indian |
| Education | Nasr School, St. Mary’s College, Hyderabad, Dr. M.G.R. Educational and Research Institute |
| Horoscope | Scorpio |
| Father’s Name | Imran Mirza |
| Mother’s Name | Naseema Mirza |
| Siblings | Anam Mirza |
| Height | 5’8” (1.73 m) |
| Weight | 57 kgs |
| Build | Athletic |
| Shoe Size | Not Available |
| Eye Color | Dark brown |
| Hair Color | Dark brown |
| Marital Status | Married |
| Spouse | Shoaib Malik |
| Children | Izhaan Mirza Malik |
| Profession | Professional Tennis Player |
| Highest Ranking | No. 27 (27th August 2007) |
| Net Worth | $25 Million |
| Awards and Achievements | Arjuna Award 2004 WTA Newcomer of the Year 2005 Padma Shri 2006 Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna 2015 BBC list of 100 inspiring women 2015 Padma Bhushan 2016 NRI of the Year 2016 |
| Social Media | Twitter, Instagram, Facebook |
| Last Update | December, 2023 |
Sania Mirza | Early Life, Family, & Education
Sania Mirza was born in Mumbai, India, on 15th November 1986 to her parents Imran Mirza and Naseema Mirza. She has a younger sister named Anam Mirza.
Her father, Imran, works as a sports journalist, and her mother, Naseema, worked in a printing business. Both Mirza sisters were raised in a very religious Muslim family.
Moreover, Mirza is a distant relative of former cricket captains Asif Iqbal of Pakistan and Ghulam Ahmed of India.
Furthermore, the Mirza family resided in Hyderabad shortly after Sania was born.
According to the horoscope, Mirza’s date of birth falls under the sun sign of Scorpio. The most common traits in people with Scorpio as their sun sign are ambition and brave.
Age, Height, and Body Measurements
The professional tennis player is 37 Years Old. She is born under the sun-sign Capricorn.
Sania stands at an outstanding height of 5’8” (1.73 m). Likewise, with the necessary diet plan and regular exercise, she possesses a weight of 57 kg.
Mirza possesses light brown colored hair and eye. Sadly the information regarding other body measurements of Sania is still unknown.
She belongs to American nationality with African American ethnicity and follows the Christian religion from the time of birth.
Education
As for her education, Mirza attended Nasr School located in Hyderabad. Reportedly, she is very fond of her school as she credits her school for providing her with the freedom to achieve her dream.
During an interview, she stated that people’s joyful faces whenever she visited the school after her tournament always boosted her determination.
Moreover, for her bachelor’s, Mirza attended St. Mary’s College, located in Hyderabad. On 11th December 2008, she earned an honorary degree from the Dr. M.G.R. Educational and Research Institute located in Chennai.
Sania Mirza | Career and Profession
Early Career
As a junior player, Mirza won almost 13 doubles and ten singles titles in tennis. She turned into a professional tennis player in 2003.
Moreover, Mirza, along with her doubles partner Alisa Kleybanova, a former Russian tennis player, won the Girl’s Doubles title at the 2003 Wimbledon Championships.
Altogether, Mirza showed early success after her debut. During that time, some of her significant highlights include reaching the quarterfinals in Pune and reaching the New Delhi semifinals.
Right after the 2002 season began, Sania adapted to the early losses and won three straight titles. Her first win was in her hometown Hyderabad, and the remaining two wins were in Manila, Philippines.
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Moreover, in the Fed Cup, Mirza showed good results representing India by winning straight three matches.
Likewise, during the 2002 Asian Games’ mixed double event, Sania partnering with Leander Paes, a fellow Indian tennis player, won a bronze medal.
Similarly, during the 2003 Afro-Asian Games, Mirza won four gold medals.
Women’s Tennis Association
Mirza won her first Women’s Tennis Association doubles title, partnering with Liezel Huber, retired South- African tennis player, during the 2004 AP Tourism Hyderabad Open.
Likewise, Sania became the first-ever Indian woman to conquer the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) title in February 2005 by defeating ninth-seeded player Alona Bondarenko.
Similarly, she became the first Indian woman to reach US Open’s Grand Slam tournament fourth round by defeating Marion Bartoli, Maria Elena Camerin, and Mashona Washington.
Furthermore, in the 2005 season, Sania won the WTA Newcomer of the Year honor.
Sania won one gold medal in mixed doubles and two silver in women’s singles and teams during the Doha Asian Games in December.
Sania started season 2007 strong, when she made it to the second round of the Australian Open’s semifinals and had the best events of her career in the summer of 2007 hardcourt season.
She reached her highest singles ranking in the world, which was No. 27. Altogether, in 2007, Sania won four doubles titles.
Doubles Specialization
Mirza won her first Premier Mandatory title with Vesnina after defeating Meghann Shaughnessy and Bethanie Mattek-Sands.
She also won her 11th WTA Tour doubles title and second Premier Mandatory of the year.
Sania re-entered the 2011’s top 60 in singles ranking after playing on the singles circuit regularly.
Moreover, she went on towards the 2012 season, ranking 104th in the ASB Classic, and won her 13th WTA title.
Likewise, Mirza partnered with Cara Black for the remainder of the 2013 season. Together they won their first and second title in a row with the China Open trophy.
Similarly, she partnered with various players in the 2013 season and won five WTA titles simultaneously.
Mirza’s Suggestion for Change
Due to Sania’s suggestion on increasing the prize purse for female winners to be equal to male winners of the Fenesta Open National Tennis Championship, the president of All India Tennis Association, Anil Khanna, announced-
“From now on… all national tournaments will have the same prize money for both categories, men, and women.”
Partnership Between Mirza and Black
Mirza and Black together won one of the WTA Finals’ biggest titles, where they defeated Peng Shuai and Hsieh Su-Wei, and Peng Shuai during the finals.
The defeat was one of the heaviest losses ever witnessed in the competition’s doubles final. This final was the duo’s last match together. Sania stated-
“It was great, and we kept the best for the last. I think today was our best match yet. To end it this way, we couldn’t have asked for a better start or finish. It sums up our partnership. I’ve also found a great friend almost like an older sister to me….. so I learned a lot from her both on and off the court.”
In the International Premier Tennis League, Sania won most of her matches and performed a fundamental role in winning the IPTL 2014.
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Career Major Ranking in WTA Doubles
Moreover, Sania sits at rank number three with 6885 points, and after her win at the Indian Wells, she earned 1000 points and earned two places on the WTA chart. After her success, she stated-
“It’s thrilling to achieve my career-best rank, and being number one is my dream, and I hope I can get there someday.”
In April 2015, Sania became the first Indian who earned the world’s No. 1 place in WTA’s doubles rankings.
After reaching No. 1, Mirza added-
“No championship has been as special to me as the Family Circle Cup, and no tournament will be this special to me, as I became No. 1 here.”
Women’s Doubles Major Titles
In 2015, Mirza achieved her first Grand Slam title in the Women’s Doubles tournament. Mirza and her partner Martina Hingis started their 2016 WTA Tour by winning the Sydney and Brisbane matches.
During the Australian Open, both of them were seeded first, and together they again won the Doubles title of the Grand Slam.
Likewise, they moved towards winning the St. Petersburg Ladies’ Trophy.
Furthermore, they reached and won their third consecutive clay final in the Internazionali BNL d’Italia, after defeating Elena Vesnina and Ekaterina Makarova during the deciding tie-breaker match.
Sania Mirza | Injuries
Sania has won many awards in her career and represented India in various international and national games.
Along with her wins, she has also gone through many injuries throughout her career.
In the 2008 Summer Olympics, Mirza had to abandon the tournament due to a right wrist injury.
She suffered from a few more wrist injuries throughout the season of 2008 and had to withdraw from various US Open Grand Slams and French Open games.
Likewise, Sanis had to withdraw from the Family Circle Cup, Sony Ericcson Open, and the BNP Paribas Open because of a right wrist injury.
This particular injury also made her remove herself from the French Open.
Furthermore, she also took part in the Sparta Prague Open and retired during the first-round match due to a back injury.
Similarly, Sania missed the first few tournaments of the 2018 season, and the 2018 Australian Open, because of a knee injury.
She stated that the injury would stop her from playing at the competition for two months further.
After spending more than two years off the professional tennis circuit due to maternity leave, Mirza returned in January 2020 for Hobart International to play alongside Nadiia Kichenok. Unfortunately, the team lost their first round due to Mirza’s calf injury.
Sania Mirza | Awards and Achievements
- Arjuna Award 2004
- WTA Newcomer of the Year 2005
- Padma Shri 2006
- BBC list of 100 inspiring women 2015
- Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna 2015
- WTA Doubles Team of the Year 2015
- ITF Doubles World Champion 2015
- NRI of the Year 2016
- Padma Bhushan 2016
- 2016’s Times Magazine top 100 list
Sania Mirza | Net worth
Mirza has accumulated a large amount of wealth throughout her successful tennis career. Reportedly, she has a salary of INR 3 Crore, and she earns around INR 25 Crore from various endorsement deals.
As for her assets, Mirza lives in a luxurious house located in Hyderabad, India, which she bought in 2012. Her property has an estimated value of approximately INR 13 Crore.
Likewise, she also owns a property in Delhi, located on an island, and has private beaches. In addition, she holds several luxury cars like- Mercedes Benz, BMW, Audi, and Range Rover.
Thus, the estimated net worth of Sania Mirza falls around INR 184 Crore, which is approximately $25 Million.
Net Worth of Sania Mirza in Different Currencies
Here is Sania Mirza’s net worth in different currencies, including the cryptocurrency BitCoin.
| Currency | Net Worth |
| Euro | €21,238,095 |
| Pound Sterling | £18,183,803 |
| Australian Dollar | A$33,944,325 |
| Canadian Dollar | C$31,411,250 |
| Indian Rupee | ₹1,860,687,500 |
| BitCoin | ฿737 |
Sania Mirza | Controversies
Throughout her career, Sania has had several controversies. Reportedly, in 2006, some newspapers stated that she declined to play doubles with Shahar Pe’er, an Israeli tennis player, due to fear of protests from India’s Muslim community.
However, she partnered up with her at the 2007 WTA Tour of Stanford, California.
On 4th February 2008, Sania said that she is no longer going to appear in tennis tournaments held in India, beginning with the 2008 Bangalore Open, due to a series of various controversies and advice from her manager.
However, she did participate in the 2010 Commonwealth Games held in New Delhi.
After Rohan Bopanna and Mahesh Bhupathi, both declined to play with Leander Paes in the men’s doubles event of the 2012 Olympics.
He went on to demand that he wanted Mirza to be his partner for the mixed doubles event.
Thus, Sania blamed the All India Tennis Association (AITA) for using her as bait to keep Paes happy as she had plans to play with Mahesh Bhupathi as she won two grand slams with him previously.
Sunitha Rao and Sania Mirza were photographed violating the dress code during the Beijing Olympic Opening Ceremony parade in 2008.
Moreover, Sania was acknowledged by various media outlets as “Pakistan’s daughter-in-law” and unfit to be a spokesperson of the Indian nation after she was delegated as the Telangana state’s brand ambassador.
The judgment was referred to her husband, Shoaib Malik, who was a Pakistani cricketer.
Sania Mirza | Husband and Children
Sania was previously engaged to her childhood friend Sohrab Mirza in 2009. There was a rumor that Sohrab and his family wanted to leave her tennis career after marriage.
Sania’s father did not want to sacrifice her career for love. Such misunderstandings piled up, and the couple finally decided to call off their engagement.
Soon after a year, Mirza married Shoaib Malik, a Pakistani cricketer, on 12th April 2010.
The marriage was held in a traditional Hyderabadi Muslim wedding ritual, which took place at the Taj Krishna Hotel located in Hyderabad, India.
They also followed Pakistani wedding customs with a mahr of INR 6.1 million (US$137,500).
As a result, the wedding’s online attention made Sania the most-searched woman tennis player and Indian sportsperson in 2010, according to Google Trends.
On 23rd April 2018, Sania and Malik announced their first pregnancy on social media. Their firstborn was named Izhaan Mirza Malik, and he was born in October 2018.
Sania Mirza | Social Media Presence
Instagram– 7.4 million followers
Twitter– 9.1 million followers
Facebook– 16 million followers
Interesting Facts about Sania Mirza
Common Queries about Sania Mirza
Where is Sania Mirza now?
Sania Mirza is currently residing with her son in Hyderabad, India and her husband is in Pakistan.
Is Sania Mirza Pakistani?
No, Sania Mirza is not Pakistani. However, her husband, Shoaib Malik, is a Pakistani cricketer.
Did Sania Mirza Retire?
Sania Mirza had to retire halfway from the women’s doubles in 2020 due to her calf injury.
What Happened to Sania Mirza’s Husband?
Sania’s Husband Shoaib suffered from a car accident met with accident in Pakistan. According to the reports, Sania’s Husband’s accident was a result of the cricketer losing control of the car because of high speed.
He crashed into a truck that was parked on the sidewalk of a local restaurant. Malik didn’t suffer any major injuries from the accident, but Malik’s expensive sports car was damaged.
When did Mirza win the Junior Wimbledon Championships?
The tennis player won the Junior Wimbledon championship in the year 2003.
How Many Kids does Sania Have?
Sania is blessed with a son in the year 2018.
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