Not for nothing is Sania Mirza the queen of Indian tennis.
Sania is only second tennis player to be named for Khel Ratna
The 28-year-old created history by becoming the first female player from the country to win a women's doubles Grand Slam title when she partnered Switzerland's Martina Hingis to emerge triumphant at Wimbledon in July.
Twelve years after turning Pro, she laid hands on her first women's doubles Grand Slam title.
She also became the first Indian to climb atop the WTA doubles rankings when she and Hingis won the Family Circle Cup in April 2015.
Already having a long list of firsts, Sania had become India's first woman player to win a Grand Slam crown when she won the Australian Open with compatriot Mahesh Bhupathi in 2009.
She later added the French Open (2012 with Bhupathi) and US Open (2014 with Bruno Soares) to her mixed doubles collection.
1. Sania started playing tennis at the age of six. Her first coach was her father Imran Mirza, who gave up a career in journalism to guide his daughter.
2. Sania was just 18 when she was conferred the prestigious Arjuna Award in 2004. The WTA named her ‘Newcomer of the Year’ in 2005 and the Padma Shri then came her way in 2006.
3. In 2014, objections were raised against Sania’s outfits on court and a fatwa was issued against her. It hurt her and she vowed never to play in India. But, later, she went on to win many laurels for her motherland, most recently, the a gold and bronze at Asian Games in Incheon, in 2014.
4. In 2009, Sania got engaged to her childhood friend and businessman Sohrab Mirza. However, the alliance fell apart. Later, Sania married Pakistani cricketer Shoaib Malik in April 2010.
5. In 2005, Time magazine named Mirza one of the ‘50 Heroes of Asia'. In March 2012, the Economic Times included her in a list of ‘33 Women Who Made India proud'.
