Six Grand Slam titles and numerous other accolades of the highest echelons, perhaps, will not help in the perfect and just apprehension of the legacy that Sania Mirza, India’s tennis great, has left behind. Yet, as we take a look back at her glorious journey in the sport – one that spanned over two decades and saw both highs and lows, with the former trumping the latter – her greatest achievements will testify to the incredible career she has had.
In this story, we will take a look at the top ten career highlights of Sania Mirza:
1. First Asian Games Medal at 15
Sania Mirza won her first Asian Games medal at 15 years of age.
(Photo: The Quint)
Having first picked the racquet at the age of six, Sania won her first Asian Games medal at the tender of age, in an event which could be termed as the first shot to fame.
It was in the 2002 edition of the competition, wherein she was paired alongside Leander Peas – an already established ace by then. After a fairly easy victory in the quarter-final, Mirza and Paes overturned a disadvantage in the quarter-final to edge past Thailand’s Vittaya Samrej and Tamarine Tanasugarn. Whilst the semi-finals did not work out in their favour, a quarter-final victory was enough to clinch a bronze medal.
2. Triumphant in Wimbledon’s Junior Event
Only a few months after her Asian Games triumph, Sania made a name for herself at the biggest tennis stage of all – Wimbledon. Then playing in the junior category, she won the girls’ doubles title. Alongside Russia’s Alisa Kleybanova, the Indian ace defeated Katerina Bohmova and Michaella Krajicek’s duo.
3. First WTA Title
In 2004, Sania Mirza won her first WTA title on home soil - at the Hyderabad Open.
(Photo: The Quint)
An Asian Games medal and a Wimbledon junior title helped Sania earn the fame she deserved, but it was then time to prevent stagnation and take it a step further – which she did ever so efficiently, with her first WTA title in 2004. Playing on familiar territory at the Hyderabad Open, she won the women’s doubles title alongside South Africa’s Liezel Huber.
4. Comeback, With a Grand Slam Win
The promising career had taken a step back, albeit with no fault of Sania’s, for injuries had halted her steady progress. Yet, she braved the impediments to return stronger than ever before, winning her first Grand Slam title in 2009, at the Australian Open. Partnering with Mahesh Bhupati in mixed doubles, the pair breezed past with Nathalie Dechy and Andy Ram with exemplary ease.
5. First Australian Open Triumph
Between 2012 to 2014, Sania added two more Grand Slams to her cabinet.
(Photo: The Quint)
The Australian Open victory was not succeeded by a plethora of instantaneous success. Instead, it was again a period of hardship and agony, which finally came to a conclusion when Sania went to the 2012 French Open.
Once again partnering Bhupati, the Indian pair defeated Klaudia Jans-Ignacik and Santiago Gonzalez to win the mixed doubles title.
6. Third Grand Slam Title
With France and Australia conquered, next on the agenda was the United States of America, which was conquered soon after. In 2014, she paired up alongside Brazil’s Bruno Soares, and won the mixed doubles title by beating Abigail Spears and Santiago Gonzalez.
7. First India To Be World Number 1
Sania Mirza is the first Indian to be ranked world number 1 on the WTA doubles ranking.
(Photo: The Quint)
2015 saw Sania finding a few women’s doubles partner in Switzerland’s Martina Hingis, and the association turned out to be bounteous, as the duo went on to win multiple accolades. It all started with a Family Circle Tour win in the same year, and though it was only a WTA Tour event and not a Grand Slam, the victory helped Sania become the first India to be ranked world number 1 on the WTA doubles rankings.
8. Ending The Wimbledon Wait
More than a decade after she established herself in the junior category in the competition, Sania finally won her first Wimbledon title in 2015. In the women’s doubles category, the Indo-Swiss pair defeated Russia’s Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina.
9. Another US Open Title
Sania Mirza won her first Grand Slam back in 2016, at the Australian Open.
(Photo: The Quint)
The fifth career Grand Slam came soon after the fourth, as the 36-year-old won yet another US Open title in 2015, albeit not the mixed doubles title this time around. The pair of Sania and Martina worked wonders yet again, beating Casey Dellacqua and Yaroslava Shvedova in straight sets to win another women’s doubles title.
10. Last Grand Slam Win
Sania’s last Grand Slam win, and her sixth in total, arrived a year later, in the very same tournament where she won her first major accolade. At the 2016 Australian Open, the Mirza-Hingis duo defeated the Czech pair of Andrea Hlavackova and Lucie Hradecka.
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)