BIOYOGRAPHY OF SANIAMIRZA

Biography
Sania Mirza is a famed tennis star of India and first female player to win the Grand Slam Title. Sania was born on 15th November 1986 in Mumbai, India to parents Imran Khan and mother Naseema, but soon they shifted their base to Hyderabad. She is the eldest sibling and has a younger sister Anam. Earlier her father was a sport journalist, after that he joined printing business but finally became a builder, and her mother is associated to printing business. She grew up in Hyderabad and did her schooling form Nasr School Khairatabad and passed her SSC examination with first division securing 63% marks.

Sania was encouraged to sports by her parents, coached by her father; she started playing lawn tennis at the tender age of six. Feeling the need to sharpen her skill, when her parents took her to Nizam Club Hyderabad, coach C.G.K Bhupati refused to coach her since she was very young that time, but after a month coach himself called up to her parents and said that he had never seen a talantbox like her before at such a tender age. IT was at Nizam Club Hyderabad.

As she grew up with age and talent, her father could not afford her training expenses thus sought help to some business houses, soon Adidas and GVK industries come forward to sponsor her and she enjoyed this assistance from the age of 12. She later joined Sinnet Tennis Academy in Secunderabad to learn professional tennis and later moved to Ace Tennis Academy in the United States. Narendranath, Vasudeva Reddy, C.G.K Bhupati has coached her in different phases of her career

Besides tennis, she love swimming and music and love Rap and Hindi remix songs. Her favorite movie is Oceans 11 and her favorite actors are Brad Pitt and Hugh Grant, Akshay Kumar and favorite player is Steffi Graff. Gauging her successful career, she has been chosen as the brand Ambassador for the Government's 'Save the Girl Child' campaign in 2003.

Tennis Career
Sania Mirza took part in international events in 1999, when she represented India at the World junior Championship at Jakarta. She then went to play in the Asian games with Leander Paes when she won bronze medal. In 2003, she created history in the history of Indian tennis by winning junior girls' doubles in junior Wimbledon Tennis tournament defeating Katerina Bohmova of the Czech Republic and Michaela Krajicek of the Netherlands 3-6, 6-2, 6-3 teaming up with 13 year old Russian player Alisa Kleybanova and became the first Indian woman to win the title.

Opportunity came knocking her door again in 2005, when she got a wild card entry to 2005 US Australian Open. She reached up to the third round but ultimately lost the round against Serena Williams. Again 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.

Sania is known for her powerful serves and throw strokes differently. Watching Sania’s game in 2007 Acura Classic, legendary Ecuador-born American player Pancho Segura, who ruled tennis court during 40s and 50s, compared her hard-hitting game with that of Romanian tennis legend Ilie Nastase. He said Sania has a natural way of hitting the ball and she hits it hard. In that event, she reaches quarter-final defeating two top 20 players Shahar Peer and Dinara Safina, however loses to top-seed Maria Sharapova in a straight set 6-2 6-1.

Sania Mirza is the first Indian woman to achieve WTA ranking below 50 in individual capacity and her dedication towards sports was honored by the Indian government by presenting the prestigious Arjuna award on 29 August, 2005 by then President of India Abdul Kalam in his official residence Rashtrapathi Bhawan, New Delhi, India.

Career Highlights
• 2007 East West Bank Classic, beats Martina Hingis for the second time in a row in the second round 6-2, 2-6, 6-4.
• 2007 Acura Classic, reaches quarter-finals after defeating two Top 20 players Shahar Peer and Dinara Safina. However loses to top-seed Maria Sharapova 6-2 6-1.
• 2007 Bank of the West Classic, reached third career final after defeating Akiko Morigami, Tatiana Golovin, Patty Schnyder and Sybille Bammer, but lost to Anna Chakvetadze 6-2 6-3. Claimed the Doubles title with partner Shahar Peer, beating Anna Chakvetadze and Victoria Azarenka 6-4 7-6.
• 2007 Western & Southern Financial Group Women's Open, won the doubles title with Bethanie Mattek as the 1st seeds. In the final they defeated Alina Jidkova and Tatiana Poutchek 7-6 7-5.
• 2007 Western & Southern Financial Group Women's Open, reached the semifinals as the 3rd seed, finally losing to 1st seeded, and eventual champion, Anna Chakvetadze 2-6, 7-5, 3-6.
• 2006 15th Asian games, Doha, Qatar: Mixed doubles - won gold medal for India partnering Leander Paes. They beat Japan's Satoshi Iwabuchi and Akiko Morigami 7-5, 5-7, 6-2
• 2006 15th Asian games, Doha, Qatar: Singles - won silver medal losing to China's Jie Zheng 4-6, 6-1, 1-6
• 2006 15th Asian games, Doha, Qatar: Team Tennis - won Silver medal for India pairing Shikha Uberoi. They lost to Chinese Taipei team.
• 2006 Sunfeast Kolkata Open singles: reached semi-finals, losing to eventual champion, Martina Hingis 6-1 6-0
• 2006 Sunfeast Kolkata Open doubles: Won the tournament partnering Liezel Huber. They beat Yulia Fedak and Yuliana Beygelzeimer 6-4 6-0
• 2006 Bangalore Open (Hyderabad Open in the previous years) doubles: Won the tournament (partnering with Liezel Huber)
• 2006 Won Silver medal in Qatar Asian Games
• 2006 Women's singles final and Gold medal in mixed doubles (partnering with Leander Paes)
• 2005 Japan Open: reaches the semi-finals of women's singles and doubles (partnering Shahar Peer of Israel); reaches her highest doubles ranking of 114. 2005 US Open: reaches 4th round by defeating Marion Bartoli of France in straight sets (7-6(4), 6-4) before losing to top seed Maria Sharapova 6-2, 6-1. 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: reaches her second WTA final but fails to win.
• 2005 Acura Classic: upsets Nadia Petrova in 2nd round but loses in the third round to Akiko Morigami of Japan (2-6,6-4,4-6). By beating the 8th-ranked Petrova, she breaks into top 50 in world rankings for the first time ever.
• 2005 Dubai Tennis Championships: Upset reigning US Open Champion Svetlana Kuznetsova 6-4, 6-2 in 2nd round to reach the quarter-finals
• 2005 Hyderabad Open singles: Won the tournament defeating Alyona Bondarenko of Ukraine 6-4, 5-7, 6-3 in the final and became the first Indian woman to capture a WTA singles title.
• 2005 Australian Open singles: 3rd round: 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).