Sania Mirza Snapshots
Birthdate: November 15, 1986
Age: 21 years
Height: 1.71m (5' 7 1/2")
Birthplace: Mumbai
Highest Singles ranking: No. 27
Highest Doubles ranking: No. 20
Status: Pro (2003)
Current coach: S Narendranath
Former coaches: Vasudeva Reddy and C G K Bhupathi
Personal:
Sania was born in Mumbai but now resides in Hyderabad. She began playing tennis at age 6 and was coached by her father, Imran Mirza. She has one sister, Anam. She is the first Indian to break into the top 50 WTA rankings. Tennis legend Steffi Graf is her idol. Ocean's 11 is one of her favourite movies, as are actors Brad Pitt and Hugh Grant.
She loves listening to hip-hop, rap and Hindi remixes and likes playing cricket and swimming. Her favourite colors are red and black.
Singles performance:
2007 2006 2005
Australian Open 2nd round 2nd round 3rd round
Roland Garros 2nd round 1st round 1st round
Wimbledon 2nd round 1st round 2nd round
US Open 3rd round 2nd round 4th round
Career highlights:
# 2006 - Second straight Top 100 finish in season highlighted by one SF run, at Tier III Kolkata (as No.5 seed, d. No.4 seed Rezai 64 75 in QF, having trailed 4-1 second set; l. to top seed and eventual champion Hingis) and four QF, incl. Cincinnati (l. to Schnyder 76(7) 75, after holding set point during first set tie-break) and Seoul (d. No.8 Hingis 46 60 64 in 2r for first Top 10 victory of year, third of career; l. to Ruano Pascual 76 third set);
# Roland Garros and Wimbledon; impressive doubles results, claiming second and third career Tour doubles titles at Bangalore and Kolkata (both w/Huber; pairing is now 12-0 when playing in India, having also won 2004 Hyderabad together); three-time doubles runner-up as well, with different partners; withdrew from Rome w/low back and wrist injury.
# 2005 Japan Open: Reached the semi-finals of women's singles and doubles. Shahar Peer of Israel was her partner in doubles. Also reached her highest doubles ranking -- 114.
# 2005 US Open: Lost in 4th round to top seed Maria Sharapova. 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: Reached second WTA final but lost.
# 2005 Acura Classic: Lost in the third round to Akiko Morigami of Japan. By beating 8th-ranked Petrova, she broke into the WTA top 50 for the first time.
# 2005 Dubai Tennis Championships: Upset reigning US Open champion Svetlana Kuznetsova in 2nd round to reach the quarter-finals.
# 2005 Hyderabad Open singles: Won the tournament defeating Alyona Bondarenko of Ukraine in the final and became the first Indian woman to capture a WTA singles title.
# 2005 Australian Open singles: 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) [5]
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Sania Mirza
Sania Mirza (b November 15, 1986) is an Indian tennis player. She was born in Mumbai, brought up in Hyderabad. Coached by her father, Imran Mirza, she began playing tennis at the age of six, turning professional in 2003. She is the highest ranked female tennis player ever from India, with a career high ranking of 27 in singles and 20 in doubles. She is now ranked 27th in the singles category and 20th in the doubles category, as of 27th Aug, 2007.Sania Mirza holds the distinction of being the first Indian woman to be seeded in a Grand Slam tennis tournament when she was seeded 26th in the 2007 U.S. Open. Earlier in 2005, she had become the first Indian woman to reach the fourth round of a Grand Slam tournament at the 2005 U.S. 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 the 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.Mirza won the 2003 Wimbledon Championships Girls' Doubles title, teaming up with Alisa Kleybanova of Russia. Mirza does not enjoy clay court. Her best performance in French Open singles has been a second round appearance in 2007.As of September 2006, Mirza has notched up three top 10 wins against Svetlana Kuznetsova, Nadia Petrova and Martina Hingis.At the 2006 Doha Asian Games, Mirza won the silver in the women's singles category and the gold in the mixed doubles partnering Leander Paes. She was also part of the Indian women's team that won the silver in the team event.Mirza had the best results of her career during the 2007 summer hardcourt season, finishing eighth in the 2007 U.S. Open Series standings. She reached the final of the Bank of the West Classic and won the doubles event with Shahar Pe'er, and reached the quarterfinals of the Tier 1 Acura Classic.At the 2007 U.S. Open, she reached the third round before losing to Anna Chakvetadze for the third time in recent weeks. She fared much better in the doubles, reaching the quarterfinals in mixed with her partner Mahesh Bhupathi and the quarterfinals in the women's doubles with Bethanie Mattek, including an impressive win over number two seeds Lisa Raymond and Samantha Stosur.She has stated that two of her best friends are fellow WTA tour players, Anna Chakvetadze and Bethanie Mattek.
