Sania Mirza has established herself as the most successful female tennis player in Indian history. She is currently the World No. 1 in the WTA doubles rankings. The queen of Indian tennis turned 30 today. Here are 30 reasons as to why she is the still the most dominating woman both on and off the field.
30: Earlier this year, Sania Mirza was conferred with the Padma Bhushan award
29: Sania and Martina Hingis’ winning streak of 41 matches is the third highest in women’s doubles history
28: She has won a total of 14 medals (6 Gold) at three major events – Asian Games, the Commonwealth Games and the Afro-Asian Games
27: Mirza was bestowed upon with the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award in 2015
26: In 2010, she was the most searched Indian sports personality
25: Sania was named the WTA Newcomer of the year in 2005
24: She married Pakistani cricketer Shoaib Malik in 2010
23: She was named as one of the “50 Heroes of Asia” by a fashion magazine in 2005
22: In 2008, Sania received an honorary degree of Doctor of Letters from the MGR Educational and Research Institute University in Chennai
21: This year, she was named as one of the 100 most influential people in the world by an American fashion magazine
20: Mirza runs her own tennis academy in Hyderabad, Telangana
19: She is the highest ranked female player from India with a career best singles rank of 27
18: Apart from tennis, Sania is a very good swimmer
17: In 2003, when she was 17, she turned professional
16: Mirza had a 62.73 winning percentage in singles and 69.89 in doubles
15: 15-year-old Mirza made her debut on the senior circuit in 2001 when she played in ITF Circuit
14: Sania was named as one of the “33 women who made India proud” by an Indian publication in 2010
13: She has represented India in the Olympics thrice in 2008 (Beijing), 2012 (London) and 2016 (Rio)
12: Sania won the Arjuna Award in 2004
11: She made her name in the tennis fraternity of being a right-handed offensive baseliner
10: In 2014, Mirza was appointed as the brand ambassador of the state Telangana
9: In 2003, she played her first ever WTA tournament at the AP Tourism Hyderabad Open
8: She is a distant relative of former India cricketer Ghulam Ahmed and former Pakistan cricketer Asif Iqbal
7: In 2006, Mirza became the first female Indian to be seeded in a grand slam event 2006 Australia Open
6: At the age of six, Sania Mirza began playing tennis
5: She idolizes Roger Federer and Steffi Graf
4: Mirza was awarded the Padma Shri in 2006
3: In 2013, Sania was appointed the UN Women’s Goodwill Ambassador for South Asia to mark the International Day To End Violence Against Women
2: She is the first Indian tennis player to earn 1 million US dollar
1: In 2015, Sania Mirza along with Hingis became world number No. 1 in WTA’s doubles rankings
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