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Sania Mirza ([ˈsaːnijaːˈmirzaː]; born 15 November 1986) is an Indian former professionaltennis player. A formerdoubles world No. 1, she won sixmajor titles – three in women's doubles and three in mixed doubles.[4][5] From 2003 until her retirement fromsingles in 2013, she was ranked by theWomen's Tennis Association as the No. 1 Indian in singles.[6][7] Throughout her career, Mirza has established herself as one of the most known, highest-paid, and influentialathletes in India.[8][9][10]
She is currently the Brand Ambassador of Gurgaon Grand Slammers,[11] a team owned by Hygiia Ventures in theTennis Premier League.
In singles, Mirza had wins overSvetlana Kuznetsova,Vera Zvonareva, andMarion Bartoli, as well as formerworld-number-onesMartina Hingis,Dinara Safina, andVictoria Azarenka. She is the highest-ranked Indian female player ever, peaking at world No. 27 in mid-2007. However, a major wrist injury caused her to shift to doubles. Mirza has achieved a number of firsts for women's tennis in India, including reaching the one million-US$ mark in career earnings (currently over US$7.2 million), winning a singlesWTA Tour title, and winning a major title, as well as qualifying for (and eventually winning) theWTA Finals in2014 in doubles partneringCara Black, and defending her title thefollowing year partnering Martina Hingis.[12] Mirza retired from professional tennis in February 2023.[13]
She is one of only two Indian women to win a WTA Tour title, and the only one to be ranked within the top 100 in singles. Mirza is the third Indian woman in theOpen Era (afterNirupama Mankad andNirupama Sanjeev, and the second in singles after Sanjeev) to contest and win a match at a major, and the first to advance past the second round. In doubles, Mirza won 43 titles and spent 91 weeks as world No. 1.[14] In 2005, Mirza was crowned the Newcomer of the Year by the WTA, and in 2015 she and Martina Hingis were the Doubles Team of the Year, going on to earn a 44-match winning streak, one of the longest in history. Mirza has also won a total of 14 medals (including six golds) at three major multi-sport events, namely theAsian Games, theCommonwealth Games and theAfro-Asian Games.
Mirza was named one of the "50 Heroes of Asia" byTime in October 2005.[15] In March 2010,The Economic Times named Mirza in its list of the "33 women who made India proud".[16] She was appointed as theUN Women's Goodwill Ambassador for South Asia during theInternational Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women on 25 November 2013.[17] She was named inTime magazine's 2016 list of the100 most influential people in the world.[18]
Sania Mirza was born on 15 November 1986 inMumbai toHyderabadi Muslim parents Imran Mirza, a sports journalist,[19] and his wife Naseema, who worked in a printing business. Shortly after her birth, her family moved toHyderabad where she and younger sister Anam were raised in aSunni Muslim family. Anam is married to cricketerMohammad Asaduddin, the son of formerIndia national cricket team captain,Mohammad Azharuddin.[20] She is the distant relative of formercricket captainsGhulam Ahmed of India, andAsif Iqbal of Pakistan.[21] She took up tennis at the age of six. She has been coached by her father and also Roger Anderson.[22][23]
She attendedNasr School in Hyderabad.[24] She later graduated from theSt. Mary's College, Hyderabad.[25][26] Mirza also received anhonorary degree ofDoctor of Letters from the Dr. M.G.R. Educational and Research Institute inChennai on 11 December 2008.[27]
Mirza began playing tennis at the age of six, turning professional in 2003. She was trained by her father. Mirza won ten singles and thirteen doubles titles as a junior player. She won the2003 Wimbledon Championships girls' doubles title, partneringAlisa Kleybanova. She also reached the semifinals of the2003 US Open girls' doubles, withSanaa Bhambri, and the quarterfinals of the2002 US Open girls' doubles.On the senior circuit, Mirza started to show early success as she made her debut in April 2001 on the ITF Circuit as a 15-year-old. Her highlights of 2001 include a quarterfinal showing inPune and a semifinal finish inNew Delhi. As the 2002 season began, she turned around a season of early losses to winning three straight titles; her first in her hometown Hyderabad and the other two inManila, Philippines. Mirza clinched the women's gold medal in tennis in2002 National Games of India in Hyderabad at the age of 16 years.[28][29][30]
In February 2003, Mirza was given a wildcard to play in her first ever WTA Tour event, at the Hyderabad Open, in her hometown. She lost the tough first round encounter to Australia'sEvie Dominikovic in three sets. The following week, at theQatar Ladies Open, she fell to CzechOlga Blahotová in the first qualifying round. She had a good result representing India on theFed Cup, winning three straight matches. She helped India win abronze medal in the mixed doubles event of the2002 Asian Games in Busan, partneringLeander Paes. In addition, Mirza picked up fourgold medals at the2003 Afro-Asian Games in Hyderabad.
At her hometown event, theHyderabad 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. She won her first WTA doubles title at the same event, partneringLiezel Huber. She then received a wildcard to compete atCasablanca, Morocco, but suffered a first-round defeat by eventual championÉmilie Loit.
On the ITF Circuit, Mirza ended runner-up at thePalm Beach Gardens Challenger where she fell toSesil Karatantcheva. Mirza won six ITF singles titles in 2004. Going into the2005 Australian Open, she defeatedCindy Watson andPetra Mandula in the first and second rounds, respectively, to reach the third round where she was beaten in straight sets by eventual championSerena Williams. In February, Mirza became the first-ever Indian woman to win aWTA Tour title, by winning her hometown event, theHyderabad Open, defeating ninth-seededAlona Bondarenko in the final. AtDubai, she upset in round two fourth seed and reigning US Open champion,Svetlana Kuznetsova, to reach the biggest quarterfinal of her career. In the second round of theWimbledon Championships, she lost to Kuznetsova in a tight three-setter.
In August, she reached the third round at theStanford Classic, falling to Morigami. Mirza reached her second WTA final at theForest Hills Tennis Classic, falling to Lucie Šafářová. Mirza became the first Indian woman to reach the fourth round of aGrand Slam tournament at theUS Open, defeatingMashona Washington,Maria Elena Camerin andMarion Bartoli, before losing to top seedMaria Sharapova, in the round of 16. At theJapan Open, Mirza reached semifinals with wins overVilmarie Castellvi,Aiko Nakamura andVera Zvonareva, before being overpowered byTatiana Golovin. Thanks to a successful2005 season, Mirza was named theWTA Newcomer of the Year.
Mirza was seeded at the2006 Australian Open (the first female Indian to be seeded in a Grand Slam event), only falling toMichaëlla Krajicek. Next she fell toCamille Pin at theBangalore Open, but won the doubles title partnering Huber. She played at theDubai Tennis Championships but lost toMartina Hingis. At theIndian Wells Open, she reached the third round but lost toElena Dementieva. She also lost in the first round of theFrench Open Grand Slam toAnastasia Myskina.
Her next tournament was theBirmingham Classic where she defeated Alona Bondarenko andShenay Perry to reach the third round, where she was overpowered byMeilen Tu. She also reached the quarterfinals of theCincinnati Open and the third round of theStanford Classic, falling toPatty Schnyder andElena Dementieva, respectively. She reached the second round of theUS Open, losing toFrancesca Schiavone. In September, she reached the semifinals of theSan Diego Open, losing to eventual champion and top seed Martina Hingis. She also won the doubles title there partnering Huber. Mirza made the quarterfinals of theKorea Open (defeating top seed Hingis en route) and theTashkent Open. In December, Mirza picked up three medals at theDoha Asian Games—gold, in mixed doubles and silver in women's singles and team.
In 2006, Mirza notched up three top-ten wins against Svetlana Kuznetsova,Nadia Petrova and Martina Hingis.[31]
Mirza started 2007 in strong fashion, making it to the semifinals of Hobart, the second round of theAustralian Open, semifinals inPattaya, and the quarterfinals inBangalore. At theFrench Open, Mirza lost the battle againstAna Ivanovic in the second round. She also fell in the second round at theWimbledon Championships to Nadia Petrova. Mirza had the best results of her career during the 2007 summer hardcourt season, finishing eighth in the 2007US Open Series standings and reaching her highest singles ranking of world No. 27.
She reached the quarterfinals in San Diego, the semifinals at Cincinnati, and made it to the final at Stanford. She also won the doubles event in Cincinnati withShahar Pe'er. At theUS Open, she reached the third round before losing toAnna Chakvetadze for the third time in recent weeks. She fared much better in the doubles competition, reaching the quarterfinals in mixed doubles with her partnerMahesh Bhupathi and the quarterfinals in the women's doubles withBethanie Mattek, including a win over number two seedsLisa Raymond andSamantha Stosur. She won four doubles titles in 2007.
Mirza reached the quarterfinals at Hobart as the No. 6 seed and lost toFlavia Pennetta in three sets. She reached the third round at theAustralian Open as No. 31 seed, in which she lost to No. 8 seedVenus Williams having been up a break in the first set. She ended runner-up in theAustralian Open mixed doubles partnering Mahesh Bhupathi, where they lost in straight sets toSun Tiantian andNenad Zimonjić.
She had to withdraw from thePattaya Open because of a left abductor strain. She reached round four atIndian Wells as the No. 21 seed, defeating ninth seed Shahar Pe'er en route, but lost to No. 5 seedDaniela Hantuchová. On grass, Mirza was crushed in the second round of Birmingham byMarina Erakovic. At the2008 Wimbledon Championships, as the No. 32 seed, Mirza was defeated by qualifierMaría José Martínez Sánchez in round two, having had several match points.
Mirza represented India at theBeijing Summer Olympics but was eliminated from singles when she retired during her match againstIveta Benešová because of a right wrist injury. For doubles, she got a walkover through the first round withSunitha Rao, but lost in the second to the Russian duo. Throughout 2008, Mirza was plagued by a slew of wrist injuries, requiring her to withdraw from several matches including those of theFrench Open andUS Open.
Mirza started her year by playing at the doubles event of theHobart International. Partnering Francesca Schiavone, they reached the quarterfinals. At2009 Australian Open, she won her first-round match againstMarta Domachowska, but she fell against tenth seed Nadia Petrova in round two. Indoubles she lost in the first round partneringVania King. But inmixed doubles, Mirza picked up her first Australian OpenGrand Slam title. Partnering with Mahesh Bhupathi, she beatNathalie Dechy andAndy Ram in the final.
She then entered thePattaya Open and reached the final after a string of good performances but lost to Vera Zvonareva. She made the semifinals in doubles in the same tournament. Mirza then competed in Indian Wells where she lost in the second round toFlavia Pennetta. She then lost toMathilde Johansson in the first round of theMiami Open. However, Mirza and her doubles partner Chuang Chia-jung made the semifinals of thewomen's doubles. Mirza also lost in the first round of theMPS Group Championships but won thedoubles title with Chuang. She again lost in the first round atRoland Garros, toGalina Voskoboeva. On grass, Mirza participated at theBirmingham Classic and reached the semifinals, losing toMagdaléna Rybáriková. AtWimbledon, Mirza defeatedAnna-Lena Grönefeld in the first round, before falling to No. 28 seedSorana Cîrstea in the second. She also lost in the second round of thedoubles (with Chuang) andmixed doubles (with Bhupathi).
Next, Mirza went to Lexington to compete in theTennis Championships, and won the title after a few good wins. Her next two tournaments were in Canada, where she had mixed results. She managed it all the way to the final at theVancouver Open but was beaten byStéphanie Dubois. At theRogers Cup, she fell toHeidi El Tabakh in the second qualifying round.
Playing in the US Open, she defeatedOlga Govortsova in the first round, but wasdouble-bageled by tenth seed Flavia Pennetta in the second. She also lost in the second round of the doubles event (partnering Francesca Schiavone) to Shahar Pe'er and Gisela Dulko. Mirza then went to Japan, where she qualified for the Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo but lost in the first round toZheng Jie. At Osaka, Mirza won against fifth seed Shahar Pe'er andViktoriya Kutuzova and in the quarterfinal, she defeated second seedMarion Bartoli by retirement. Mirza moved on to the semifinal, where she lost to Francesca Schiavone.
Mirza began her year at theAuckland Open where she won her first-round match againstStefanie Vögele, but was crushed by fourth seed Francesca Schiavone in the second round. Mirza then suffered two first-round losses at theHobart International and theAustralian Open. In February, she competed in thePattaya Open as the sixth seed, but was upset byTatjana Malek. She then played inDubai but suffered a first-round defeat toAnabel Medina Garrigues. Mirza was forced to withdraw from theMiami Open, theIndian Wells Open and theFamily Circle Cup due to a right wrist injury. This injury also caused her to pull out of theFrench Open.
She returned at theBirmingham Classic, where she lost in the second round toTamarine Tanasugarn in three sets. Mirza then fell in the qualifying atEastbourne and also lost in the first round ofWimbledon; however, she did manage to finish runner-up at the GB Pro-Series Wrexham. Her bad form continued, as she lost in the second round of theVancouver Open and qualifying rounds of both theCincinnati Open and theRogers Cup. Mirza won her first round match againstMichelle Larcher de Brito at theUS Open, but she went down against 20th seededAnastasia Pavlyuchenkova in the second round.
In September, Mirza competed in theGuangzhou International Open where she made her first quarterfinal of the season. She then lost in the first round of theTashkent Open, in the qualifying draw of the Luxembourg Open, and the first round of the Taipei Ladies Open. In doubles, Mirza won in Guangzhou (withEdina Gallovits) and finished as a runner-up in Taipei (withHsieh Su-wei). In October, she represented India at the2010 Commonwealth Games as the second seed. She defeated Brittany Teei (Cook Islands),Marina Erakovic (New Zealand), andOlivia Rogowska (Australia) before losing to AustralianAnastasia Rodionova in the final. In doubles, she partnered with fellow Indian,Rushmi Chakravarthi, losing in the semifinals to Anastasia Rodionova andSally Peers (Australia). Mirza and Chakravarthi beat compatriotsPoojashree Venkatesha andNirupama Sanjeev to win the bronze medal.
In November, she represented India at the2010 Asian Games. The unseeded Indian defeatedVenise Chan in the first round. Next, she defeated sixth seedZhang Shuai in straight sets to enter into quarterfinal. In the quarterfinal, Mirza won against second seedTamarine Tanasugarn to move in semifinal, where she was defeated by third seedAkgul Amanmuradova and wonbronze medal in singles. In mixed doubles, she partnered with India'sVishnu Vardhan losing in the finals to Chan Yung-jan andYang Tsung-hua and wonsilver medal. In December, she went to Dubai to compete at theAl Habtoor Challenge. Coming unseeded, she won the tournament, defeatingKsenia Pervak, top seedJulia Görges andEvgeniya Rodina en route, and second seedBojana Jovanovski in the final.
Mirza lost in the early rounds of theAustralian Open and its warm-up tournaments. Following that, she received wildcards to play in theDubai Open and theQatar Open. She made the second rounds of both events, falling toAyumi Morita and Jelena Janković, respectively. She also was the quarterfinalist in doubles at both, withElena Vesnina. At the Premier Mandatory events in March, Mirza made the second rounds in both. In doubles, she won her first Premier Mandatory title atIndian Wells, with Vesnina, defeatingBethanie Mattek-Sands andMeghann Shaughnessy.
Mirza participated at the Premier-levelCharleston Open in South Carolina. In singles, she made her first Premier quarterfinal since San Diego in August 2007. In doubles, Mirza won the title with Vesnina: the Indo-Russian duo beat Mattek-Sands and Shaughnessy in the final for the second time this season. Mirza won her 11th WTA Tour doubles title and second of the year.
Next, she also competed at theMadrid Open, losing in the first round against doubles partner Elena Vesnina. In doubles, with Vesnina, she managed to go up to the third round. Mirza took part in theSparta Prague Open, but had to retire in her first round match againstAleksandra Krunić due to a back injury. Next she played atStrasbourg, but suffered a first round lostAlizé Cornet.
Mirza breezed through the first round of the French Open where she beatKristina Barrois in straight sets. Then in round two, she lost to 12th seedAgnieszka Radwańska. In doubles, Mirza had what was probably the greatest highlight of her career- reaching the finals of a Grand Slam and she ended up runner-up with Vesnina losing out toAndrea Hlaváčková andLucie Hradecká.[32]
During the grass-court season Mirza lost in the first rounds of the singles and doubles competition atEastbourne. Playing at theAll England Lawn Tennis Club, she came up with her personal best performance by reaching her first semifinals atWimbledon alongside Vesnina losing out to Květa Peschke and Katarina Srebotnik. En route they beat 13th seeds Daniela Hantuchová and Agnieszka Radwańska in the round of 16 and the Spanish duo ofNuria Llagostera Vives andArantxa Parra Santonja in the quarterfinal clash. In singles, she lost in the first round toVirginie Razzano in a close three-setter.
She then could not cross the first round hurdles in her next five attempts in singles including theUS Open where she lost yet another tight three setter to 23rd seed Shahar Pe'er. On two occasions Mirza scored two wins in qualifying rounds, defeated Heidi El Tabakh atRogers Cup andVania King atCincinnati. She, however, continued her good run in doubles competition as she won the title at D.C. partneringYaroslava Shvedova, defeating the second seeded Olga Govortsova andAlla Kudryavtseva in the final.
Partnering Vesnina, Mirza entered theSouthern California Open but the duo had to withdraw from their first-round match againstElena Bovina andZheng Jie while leading 5–2 in the first set. Playing at Rogers Cup, the pair lost to the future world No. 1, Italian duo ofSara Errani andRoberta Vinci, in three sets. AtFlushing Meadows, Mirza and Vesnina lost in the pre-quarterfinals to the Czech duo ofIveta Melzer andBarbora Záhlavová-Strýcová, having beatenSamantha Crawford andMadison Keys,Vitalia Diatchenko andOlga Savchuk, in straight sets in their previous encounters. After playing on the singles circuit regularly throughout the year, Mirza also re-entered top 60 in singles ranking in 2011.
Mirza kicked off her2012 season ranked 104th inAuckland. She lost a first qualifying match againstCoCo Vandeweghe. As fordoubles, she partnered Elena Vesnina and made it to the semifinals, losing to Julia Görges and Flavia Pennetta. Her next tournament was inSydney where she played doubles only alongside Roberta Vinci, but lost in round one.
Going into theAustralian Open, Mirza was overpowered byTsvetana Pironkova in the first round. Indoubles, she reached her third Grand Slam semifinal, partnering Vesnina, where they fell to Svetlana Kuznetsova and Vera Zvonareva. For themixed-doubles event, Mirza played alongside compatriot Mahesh Bhupathi and reached her fourth Grand Slam semifinal.
Mirza then represented India at theFed Cup inShenzhen, China where they were facing Hong Kong. In singles, she defeatedZhang Ling. Partnering withIsha Lakhani, the pair beat Chan Wing-yau and Zhang in three sets. With this performance, India advanced to the Fed Cup Asia/Oceania Zone Group I for 2013. Mirza then played at thePattaya Open where she won her first WTA main draw match since the 2011 French Open – coming from a set down to upsetAyumi Morita (ranked 47 spots higher). In second round she beatAnne Keothavong to enter in quarterfinal, where she lost to Hsieh Su-wei. In doubles with Anastasia Rodionova, she won her 13th WTA title: they defeated the Taiwanese sistersChan Hao-ching and Chan Yung-jan.
Mirza then went to Doha to play at theQatar Ladies Open but had to withdraw from the singles qualifying event, due to playing Pattaya doubles final. She lost in the second round of doubles with Elena Vesnina. Then, inDubai, she was beaten byAleksandra Wozniak in the first qualifying round. In doubles, Mirza and Vesnina were runners-up against top seedsLiezel Huber and Lisa Raymond. Mirza then lost a tough three set encounter toEleni Daniilidou in round one of theMalaysian Open.
Playing doubles at the Premier-line up ofIndian Wells,Miami andCharleston, Mirza reached the final, lost in round one and made the quarterfinals, respectively. She also reached round two of singles in Indian Wells. She then would begin the European Clay Court Season atEstoril, where she was the semifinalist in doubles (with Anastasia Rodionova). She lost in round two of doubles inMadrid and also inRome. Mirza returned on the singles circuit in May atBrussels where she won three good matches – including her first 'double bagel' – in the qualifying competition, where she beatLesia Tsurenko, who was ranked 87 spots higher than her. She also won the doubles of the same event with Bethanie Mattek-Sands.
She then participated in the French Open in the women's doubles (with Mattek-Sands) and the French Open mixed doubles (with Bhupathi). In the doubles she suffered a first-round shock defeat but found great success in the French Open mixed-doubles where she and Bhupathi won the crown by defeatingSantiago González of Mexico andKlaudia Jans-Ignacik of Poland in the final on 7 June 2012.[33]
AtEastbourne, Mirza would play the last singles tournament of her career. She defeatedLisa Whybourn in the qualifying round one, before losing to Andrea Hlaváčková in the next round. Mirza and her partner Shvedova crashed out of theBirmingham Classic with a straight-set defeat by Iveta Benešová and Alla Kudryavtseva.[34] Mirza then would go on to falling in the qualifying singles and first-round doubles at Eastbourne.
Mirza and her American partner Mattek-Sands advanced to the third round of the women's doubles competition atWimbledon, where they fell to theWilliams sisters.[35] On 26 June 2012, Mirza was awarded a wildcard entry hence confirming her participation in women's doubles event of theLondon Olympics.[36] On 17 July 2012, Mirza and her partner Mattek-Sands were ousted in the first round of WTA Premier event in the US.[37]
Mirza, partneringRushmi Chakravarthy in the women's doubles competition at Olympics, bowed out, losing to Chinese Taipei team in a tight match.[38] She also lost in quarterfinals of mixed doubles withLeander Paes to Belarus in a tough encounter. At the Premier Mandatory events of Montréal and Cincinnati, partnering Mattek-Sands, Mirza reached the quarterfinals and lost in round one of doubles, respectively.[39]
In October 2012 the prize purse for female winners of the "Fenesta Open National Tennis Championship" was increased to be equal to that of male winners at Mirza's suggestion to All India Tennis Association president Anil Khanna.[40] Khanna also announced that "From now on we will see to it that all national tournaments have the same prize money for both categories women and men."[40]
Mirza kicked off her 2013 season with a titleBrisbane alongside Bethanie Mattek-Sands in the first tournament itself. The pair then unexpectedly lost in the first round ofAustralian Open, Mirza though reached the quarterfinals of the 2013 Australian Openmixed doubles partneringBob Bryan. Mattek-Sands and Mirza then won the doubles title at the Dubai Tennis Championships in February. They had to retire in their round of 16 match at the French Open after having won the first set againstAnastasia Pavlyuchenkova andLucie Šafářová. They also lost in the round of 16 at Wimbledon. Mirza then formed a brief successful partnership with Zheng Jie from China winning a title atNew Haven and reaching the semis atUS Open losing out to AustraliansCasey Dellacqua andAshleigh Barty. Mirza then partneredCara Black for the rest of the season and the pair won their first title in their first outing at Tokyo. They won their second title in a row as they lifted theChina Open trophy defeating top seeds and world-number-ones, Sara Errani and Roberta Vinci, en route. Mirza partnered different players during 2013 and won five WTA titles.
Mirza began 2014 playing with Cara Black in theSydney International where they lost in the first round toAjla Tomljanović andJarmila Gajdošová. Her next tournament was theAustralian Open. Seeded sixth, Mirza and Black reached the quarterfinals at the2014 Australian Open – Women's doubles before losing to top seeds and eventual champions Errani and Vinci. She was more successful in the mixed doubles event, reaching the final partneringHoria Tecău of Romania. Tecău and Mirza lost toKristina Mladenovic andDaniel Nestor in the final.
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Mirza and Black next competed in theQatar Open and lost to the pairing of Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova and Nadia Petrova in the quarterfinals. The pair lost in the first round of theDubai Championships to Andrea Hlaváčková andLucie Šafářová. They reached their first WTA Tour doubles final of the year at theIndian Wells Open but lost to Hsieh Su-wei and Peng Shuai. Mirza and Black reached the semifinals of theMiami Open, before losing to wildcards Martina Hingis and Sabine Lisicki. They finished runners-up to Errani and Vinci once again in thePorsche Tennis Grand Prix. They won their first title of the year at the2014 Portugal Open, defeatingEva Hrdinová andValeria Solovyeva in the final.
Mirza and Black recorded three consecutive quarterfinal finishes in the subsequent clay tournaments, namely theMadrid Open, theItalian Open, and theFrench Open. In the mixed doubles event at the 2014 French Open, Mirza and Horia Tecău lost in the second round to Tímea Babos andEric Butorac. Mirza began grass-court season playing in Birmingham. She and Black lost toRaquel Kops-Jones andAbigail Spears in the semifinals. AtEastbourne, they reached the quarterfinals before losing to Chan Hao-ching and Chan Yung-jan. The pair next competed atWimbledon and lost in the second round to the unseeded pairing of Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova and Lucie Šafářová.[41]
Mirza and Black next competed in the2014 US Open and lost to the pairing of Martina Hingis and Flavia Pennetta in the semifinals. Mirza played the mixed doubles in the US Open pairing withBruno Soares and went on to become the 2014 US Open mixed-doubles champions, thereby winning the third mixed doubles title in her career.
Sania won a gold and bronze at the17th Asian Games in Incheon, South Korea. She paired withSaketh Myneni to beat China's Hsien Yin Peng and Chan Hao-ching and win gold in the mixed doubles tournament. She also won a bronze medal in women's doubles, pairing withPrarthana Thombare.
Black and Mirza won their biggest title together at theWTA Finals defeating Hsieh Su-wei and Peng Shuai in the final. It was the heaviest defeat ever witnessed in the end-of-season competition's doubles final which dates back 41 years to 1973, the year theWTA was founded. Black and Mirza survived matchpoints in both their previous encounters againstKvěta Peschke/Katarina Srebotnik and Raquel Kops-Jones/Abigail Spears coming through in third set tiebreaks. This final would be the duo's final match as a team.
"It was great – we saved the best for the last. I think today was our best match. One of our best matches at least, and one of our best matches we played against them." Mirza told reporters after the win. "To end this way, we couldn't have asked for a better start or end. It kind of sums up our partnership", she added. She added that Black was her great friend "But I've also found a great friend in her. Almost like an older sister to me. I'm the oldest in my family, so I learned a lot from her on and off the court."
Mirza participated in theInternational Premier Tennis League starting on 28 November 2014, playing with the Micromax Indian Aces alongside tennis legendRoger Federer, countrymanRohan Bopanna, Ana Ivanovic andGaël Monfils. She played all the mixed-doubles matches alongside Bopanna and partnered Federer who visited the country for his first match there in theNew Delhi leg, much to her personal and fans' delight.[42] Mirza won the majority of her matches and played a key role for the Indian Aces to win the inaugural edition of the IPTL 2014.[43]
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Mirza began her 2015 season ranked No. 6 in the doubles rankings. She started a new partnership with then world No. 5, Hsieh Su-wei from Chinese Taipei, after Cara Black decided to go for a limited 2015 season.[44] The pair started their season at the2015 Brisbane International as the top seeds and reached the semifinals losing out to fourth seedsCaroline Garcia and Katarina Srebotnik in the super tie-breaker after having won the first set.
Mirza paired up with former partner and good friend Bethanie Mattek-Sands for theSydney International and went on to win the tournament for her 23rd career title (fifth with Mattek-Sands) beating the highly fancied second seeds Martina Hingis and Flavia Pennetta in the quarterfinals and top-seeds Raquel Kops-Jones and Abigail Spears in the finals,[45] but lost in the second round atMelbourne. She also re-entered the top 5 in the rankings. Mirza also reached the finals ofQatar Ladies Open at Doha alongside Hsieh. The pair lost to Americans Raquel Kops-Jones and Abigail Spears.[46]
Mirza then ended her partnership with Hsieh and paired up with Swiss legend Martina Hingis.[47] The pair enteredIndian Wells as the top seeds and went on to win the titles in their debut. They beat opponents including former world number ones Lisa Raymond and Sam Stosur. Hingis and Mirza didn't lose more than four games in any set. After cruising through the first set of the final, they fell behind in the second set but won the next four games to beat second seeds Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina in straight sets. They also won the Miami masters event, again beating the same opponents.[48] Mirza jumped two places on the ranking table to be ranked at her career best No. 3 in the doubles rankings.[49]
The duo then entered theMiami Open and went to beat the same opponents in the finals making it their second title in as many tournaments. The pair did not lose a single set at the tournament, making the set score 20–0 for their newly formed partnership. Before reaching the finals at Miami the pair beatElena Bogdan andNicole Melichar,Gabriela Dabrowski andAlicja Rosolska, Anastasia Rodionova andArina Rodionova, and seventh seedsTímea Babos and Kristina Mladenovic.[50] They overcame Vesnina and Makarova in the finals in straight sets.[51]
Mirza and Hingis wonFamily Circle Cup's double title in April 2015 defeating Casey Dellacqua andDarija Jurak and with the title win Mirza became the first Indian to be ranked world No. 1 in WTA's doubles rankings.[4] It was Mirza and Hingis' third successive title win and they have not lost as a single match since joining forces, winning 14 matches in a row. "It's a dream for every kid to be No. 1 one day." Mirza said after her win. And on reaching No. 1 in Charleston she added "No tournament has been as special to me as the Family Circle Cup and no tournament will ever be as special to me, because I became No. 1 here."[52] They were routed in the first round at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix. They reached the finals ofItalian Open but lost to the team of Tímea Babos and Kristina Mladenovic. They lost in the quarterfinals ofFrench Open to Mattek-Sands and Šafářová where the duo were the top seeds. Mirza was also given the top seeding with her partner Bruno Soares in themixed doubles event. In spite of this, the pair lost in just 56 minutes against the unseededAnna-Lena Grönefeld andJean-Julien Rojer in the first round.[53]
For the grass-court season, Mirza was seeded No. 1 in theBirmingham Premier level event and partnered with Casey Dellacqua. However, the team crashed out of the WTA event following a straight-set defeat in Birmingham on 18 June 2015.[54] They lost to unseeded pair of Zheng Jie and Chan Yung-jan in the opening round.[54] Mirza and Hingis were beaten in the semifinals at the WTAAegon International doubles in Eastbourne. The top seeds lost to the fourth seeded French-Slovenian combine of Caroline Garcia and Katarina Srebotnik in 81 minutes.[55]
Mirza and Hingis won theWimbledon Championships, defeating Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina in three tough sets in the final. After splitting two very close sets against two-time Grand Slam champions Makarova and Vesnina, Hingis and Mirza – who were playing just their second Grand Slam together – fell behind in the third set were a game away from going out. But a fierce rally saw them draw level at 5-all, and after a half hour break for the Centre Court roof to be closed due to fading light, the No. 1-seeded Swiss-Indian duo came out stronger, breaking the No. 2-seeded Russians one last time and then serving it out for a gritty victory.[56] The win gave Mirza her first Grand Slam title in women's doubles and Hingis her tenth.[57]
En route to the final, the pair did not lose a single set against any of their opponents. In the opening two rounds the duo beat unseeded opponents,Zarina Diyas andZheng Saisai and veteran Japanese-Italian combine ofKimiko Date-Krumm and Francesca Schiavone. 16th seeded Spaniard duo ofAnabel Medina Garrigues andArantxa Parra Santonja beating them in the third round, ninth seeds Casey Dellacqua and Yaroslava Shvedova in the quarter finals, and dominated fifth seeded Kops-Jones and Spears (who beat them earlier) in the semifinals before finally overcoming Vesnina and Makarova in the marathon final. With the win Mirza and Hingis also regain the top spot in2015 Road to Singapore standings trading spots with Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Lucie Šafářová and became the first team to qualify forWTA Finals.[58]
The pair reached two consecutive finals at theRogers Cup andWestern & Southern Open losing out to Caroline Garcia, Katarina Srebotnik and Chan Hao-ching, Chan Yung-jan, respectively. At theUS Open the pair entered the tournament as the top seed and went on to win the title defeating Casey Dellacqua and Yaroslava Shvedova in the finals. They did not lose a set throughout the fortnight defeating seeded opponentsMichaëlla Krajicek, Barbora Strýcová, Chan sisters, Sara Errani, Flavia Pennetta. This was the pair's second straight Grand Slam title after Wimbledon. Their undefeated run continued through the rest of the year with titles atGuangzhou International Women's Open and Premier-level tournament2015 Wuhan Open, and Premier MandatoryChina Open defeating Xu Shilin and You Xiaodi,Irina-Camelia Begu andMonica Niculescu, Chan sisters again, respectively.[59]
The pair then entered2015 WTA Finals as heavy favourites and the top seeds and lived up to the expectations as they did not lose a single set en route to the title at the Premier Event. This was Mirza's second straight title at the Finals and she remains undefeated at the year ending tournament. The pair of Hingis-Mirza topped their group and beat the Chan's in the semi-finals andGarbiñe Muguruza andCarla Suárez Navarro in the finals to win the title. The pair thus ended the year with a 22 match winning streak and Mirza secured the year ending No. 1 ranking and wrapped up her2015 season with ten WTA titles including two Grand Slams.[60]
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Mirza and Hingis kicked off their2016 WTA Tour in Australia by winning the tournaments in Brisbane and Sydney. In theAustralian Open, they were seeded top and won the doubles title, Mirza's third Grand Slam title.
Mirza and Hingis then proceeded to the inauguralSt. Petersburg Trophy and won the title there, defeatingDushevina/Krejčíková in the final. They next played at theQatar Ladies Open, where they suffered a shock loss toDaria Kasatkina/Elena Vesnina. That loss ended Hingis and Mirza's 41 match winning streak. They then played theIndian Wells Open, where they played their first tournament together, and surprisingly lost their second-round match againstVania King/Alla Kudryavtseva.
At theMiami Open, Mirza and Hingis again lost in the second round toMargarita Gasparyan and Monica Niculescu. After losing three out of last five matches, Mirza and Hingis took a break and did not play in theCharleston Open, where they were the defending champions.
Mirza and Hingis started their clay season by reaching the finals of Porsche Grand Prix and Madrid Open, where they eventually lost to Kristina Mladenovic and Caroline Garcia in both the tournaments. They, however, managed to reach and win their third consecutive clay-court final in Internazionali d'Italia, by defeating Makarova and Vesnina in the deciding tie-breaker.
In August 2016, Mirza and Hingis announced their mutual decision to split as a team, citing their last few under-par performances, with the2016 WTA Finals in Singapore being their last event together. Mirza partnered withBarbora Strýcová in late 2016 (winning two titles) and some parts of the2017 season. In 2017, her sole title came atBrisbane, where she played alongside her friend Mattek-Sands. However, Mirza struggled to find a committed partner to play with in the2017 season, which resulted in her falling out of the top 5. The last tournament she played was theChina Open, where she lost in the semifinals partnering Peng Shuai.
Mirza missed the first few tournaments of the2018 season, including theAustralian Open, citing a knee injury she sustained in October 2017. In early February 2018, Mirza said the same injury would keep her out of competition for a further two months.[61] In April, Mirza announced onInstagram that she was pregnant with her first child, with husband Shoaib Malik.[62] In late October, Mirza had delivered a baby boy.[63]
In late 2018, Mirza announced she hoped to return to professional tennis in time for the2020 Summer Olympics.[64] After having celebrated her son's first birthday and having spent more than two years off the professional circuit, she returned to the tour at theHobart International in January 2020 playing alongsideNadiia Kichenok. The newly formed team won the tournament beating second seedsPeng Shuai/Zhang Shuai in the final. However, the team lost their first round match at the2020 Australian Open because of a calf injury suffered by Mirza.[65] She played at the2020 Summer Olympics withAnkita Raina, but lost to Ukrainian Pair ofLyudmyla Kichenok andNadiia Kichenok in the first round. This was Mirza's third consecutive first round exit in women's doubles event at the Olympics.[66]
She reached the semifinals at the WTA 1000Qatar Open and theItalian Open as well as theFrench Open third round, partnering Lucie Hradecká.
At theCanadian Open, she reached the quarterfinals of a WTA 1000 level partneringMadison Keys where they defeated top seedsElise Mertens andVeronika Kudermetova.[67] Next, they defeatedSofia Kenin andYulia Putintseva to reach the semifinals.
On 7 January, she announced she would retire after her last tournament at the Dubai Championships, in February.[3][68] Mirza started the season atAdelaide International withAnna Danilina where they lost to top seedsStorm Hunter andBarbora Krejčíková in three sets.
At theAustralian Open, she and Danilina entered as the eighth seeds. They defeatedBernarda Pera andDalma Gálfi in first round in straight sets but they lost in the second toAnhelina Kalinina andAlison Van Uytvanck in three sets. The second-round match became Mirza's last women's doubles match at a major. In themixed doubles, partnering withRohan Bopanna, Mirza advanced to the final.[69][70]
AtDubai, she partnered Madison Keys for the last tournament of her career.[71][72]
Mirza is anoffensive baseliner with very powerfulgroundstroke and is known for setting up good attacks with the sheer velocity of her groundstrokes. Her main strength is herforehand, as well as her volleying skills.[73] Her power game has drawn comparisons to Romanian legendIlie Năstase.[74] She is also a great returner of serve finding many return winners during matches. Mirza goes for winners, which means she goes for many angles.[75] Mirza has said that "There's no doubt that my forehand and backhand can match anyone, it's about the place that they're put in. I can hit the ball as hard as anyone can". "I'm not that fast on my feet", she added as her most evident weakness is her movement around the court, where Mirza usually struggles moving up and around the court. Mirza's second serve and relatively poor mobility are often quoted as her big weaknesses. But by 2012, a series of injuries had effectively ended her singles career.[76]
In the year 2014, the government ofTelangana appointed Mirza as the brand ambassador of the state. Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrashekhar Rao congratulated Sania Mirza on her being awarded Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award.[86] She was named inTime's 2016 list of100 most influential people in the world.[18]
In 2009, Mirza got engaged to Sohrab Mirza.[87] However, the engagement was called off shortly after.[88]
On 12 April 2010, she married Pakistani cricketerShoaib Malik in a traditionalHyderabadi Muslim wedding ceremony at the Taj Krishna Hotel inHyderabad, Telangana, India; followed byPakistaniPunjabi wedding customs for amahr of₹ 6.1 million (US$137,500).[89][90] TheirWalima ceremony was held inSialkot, Punjab, Pakistan.[91]
The couple announced their first pregnancy on social media on 23 April 2018.[92][93] In October 2018, Malik announced onTwitter that Mirza had delivered a baby boy and named him Izhaan Mirza Malik.[94][95][96][97]
In January 2024 Mirza's family announced that the couple had divorced some months prior.[98]
In 2014, Mirza was thebrand ambassador for theIndian state ofTelangana to promote the interests of the then newly created state.[99]
Mirza has established a tennis academy inHyderabad.[100] Former world No. 1s and multiple Grand Slam winnersCara Black andMartina Navratilova have both visited the academy on different occasions.[101]
Mirza was announced theUN Women Goodwill Ambassador for South Asia. She is the first South Asian woman to be appointed as a Goodwill Ambassador in the organization's history.[102]
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In September 2005, afatwa against Mirza was issued by a cleric named Haseeb-ul-hasan Siddiqui of the Sunni Ulema Board. The fatwa said that her attire on the tennis court and billboard advertisements were un-Islamic.[103] Mirza later decided to hire bodyguards.[104]
In 2006, some newspapers reported that Mirza declined to play doubles with Israeli tennis playerShahar Pe'er for fear of protests from India's Muslim community.[105]
On 4 February 2008, Mirza said that she would stop appearing in tennis tournaments held in India, starting with the2008 Bangalore Open the following month, citing the series of controversies and upon advice by her manager.[106] But Mirza chose to participate at the2010 Commonwealth Games inDelhi.[107][108][109]
After bothMahesh Bhupathi andRohan Bopanna refused to play in the men's doubles event at the 2012 Olympics withLeander Paes, Paes demanded that he be partnered with Mirza for the mixed doubles event. Mirza accused theAll India Tennis Association (AITA) of using her as 'bait' to keep Paes happy as she wanted to play with Bhupathi, with whom she has won 2 grand slams. In the end, Mirza was paired with Paes and the pair lost in the quarterfinals of the mixed doubles.[110]
Mirza, along withSunitha Rao,[111] was photographed violating the dress code at Beijing Olympic Opening Ceremony parade in 2008.[112] In response, Mirza reaffirmed loyalty to the land of her birth—"To see the national flag go up while standing on the podium is the proudest moment in an athlete's life and I will want to experience that for myself in London."[113]
Mirza was referred to as "Pakistan's daughter-in-law" and unfit to be a representative of an Indian state after she was appointed theTelangana state'sbrand ambassador. The comment referred to Mirza's husband,Shoaib Malik, being a Pakistani cricketer.[114] Telangana chief ministerKalvakuntla Chandrashekar Rao presented Mirza with₹1crore on two occasions.[115][116]She was summoned by the tax department for non-payment of service tax on the payment received, however she responded that the₹1 crore given was training incentive, and not towards becoming state's brand ambassador.[117]
| W | F | SF | QF | #R | RR | Q# | P# | DNQ | A | Z# | PO | G | S | B | NMS | NTI | P | NH |
| Tournament | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | ... | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | SR | W–L |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Australian Open | A | A | 1R | 3R | 3R | 1R | 3R | 1R | SF | 1R | QF | 2R | W | 3R | 1R | A | 1R | 2R | 1 / 15 | 23–14 | |
| French Open | A | 2R | 3R | 1R | A | 2R | A | F | 1R | 3R | QF | QF | 3R | 1R | A | A | 3R | A | 0 / 12 | 19–11 | |
| Wimbledon | Q1 | 1R | 2R | 3R | QF | 2R | 2R | SF | 3R | 3R | 2R | W | QF | 3R | NH | 2R | 1R | A | 1 / 15 | 29–13 | |
| US Open | A | 1R | 3R | QF | A | 2R | 1R | 3R | 3R | SF | SF | W | QF | SF | A | 1R | A | A | 1 / 13 | 31–12 | |
| Win–loss | 0–0 | 1–3 | 5–4 | 7–4 | 5–2 | 3–4 | 3–3 | 11–4 | 8–4 | 8–4 | 11–4 | 16–2 | 14–3 | 8–4 | 0–1 | 1–2 | 2–3 | 1–1 | 3 / 55 | 104–52 |
| Tournament | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | ... | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | SR | W–L |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Australian Open | A | 1R | 1R | F | W | A | A | SF | QF | F | SF | SF | F | A | QF | F | 1 / 12 | 32–11 | |
| French Open | A | 1R | 2R | A | 1R | A | 1R | W | 1R | 2R | 1R | F | QF | A | 2R | A | 1 / 11 | 17–10 | |
| Wimbledon | 2R | 3R | 2R | 2R | 3R | A | QF | 2R | QF | 3R | QF | 2R | 3R | 3R | SF | A | 0 / 14 | 28–14 | |
| US Open | A | 1R | QF | A | 2R | A | 1R | QF | 1R | W | 1R | 2R | 1R | 1R | A | A | 1 / 11 | 14–10 | |
| Win–loss | 0–0 | 1–3 | 5–4 | 7–4 | 6–3 | 2–3 | 3–3 | 11–4 | 8–4 | 8–4 | 11–4 | 16–2 | 14–3 | 2–2 | 6–3 | 3–1 | 3 / 48 | 91–45 |
| Result | Year | Championship | Surface | Partner | Opponents | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Loss | 2011 | French Open | Clay |  Elena Vesnina |  Andrea HlaváčkováLucie Hradecká | 4–6, 3–6 |
| Win | 2015 | Wimbledon | Grass |  Martina Hingis | Ekaterina Makarova Elena Vesnina | 5–7, 7–6(4), 7–5 |
| Win | 2015 | US Open | Hard | Martina Hingis | 6–3, 6–3 | |
| Win | 2016 | Australian Open | Hard | Martina Hingis | Andrea Hlaváčková Lucie Hradecká | 7–6(1), 6–3 |
| Result | Year | Championship | Surface | Partner | Opponents | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Loss | 2008 | Australian Open | Hard |  Mahesh Bhupathi |  Sun Tiantian Nenad Zimonjić | 6–7(4), 4–6 |
| Win | 2009 | Australian Open | Hard | Mahesh Bhupathi |  Nathalie Dechy Andy Ram | 6–3, 6–1 |
| Win | 2012 | French Open | Clay | Mahesh Bhupathi |  Klaudia Jans-Ignacik Santiago González | 7–6(3), 6–1 |
| Loss | 2014 | Australian Open | Hard |  Horia Tecău | Kristina Mladenovic Daniel Nestor | 3–6, 2–6 |
| Win | 2014 | US Open | Hard |  Bruno Soares |  Abigail Spears Santiago González | 6–1, 2–6, [11–9] |
| Loss | 2016 | French Open | Clay |  Ivan Dodig | Martina HingisLeander Paes | 6–4, 4–6, [8–10] |
| Loss | 2017 | Australian Open | Hard | Ivan Dodig | Abigail Spears Juan Sebastián Cabal | 2–6, 4–6 |
| Loss | 2023 | Australian Open | Hard | Rohan Bopanna | Luisa StefaniRafael Matos | 6–7(2–7), 2–6 |
In July 2016, Mirza published an autobiography titledAce Against Odds chronicling her journey to the top. The book also lists some of her memorable encounters on and off the court and talks about the people and relationships that have contributed to Mirza's growth as a person and a sportsperson.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
| Awards and achievements | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | WTA Newcomer of the Year 2005 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | WTA Doubles Team of the Year (with Martina Hingis)2015 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | ITF Doubles World Champion (with Martina Hingis)2015 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna 2015 | Succeeded by |
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