In a cricket-obsessed nation, Sania Mirza stands out as one of India’s few female sporting giants. She is the country’s highest-ever ranked female tennis player — hitting 27th in the global rankings back in 2007. Mirza was also the first Indian player of either sex to win a WTA tour event, when she triumphed over Ukraine’s Alona Bondarenko at the AP Tourism Hyderabad Open in 2005.
In the same year, she was named WTA Newcomer of the Year. In 2009, while partnering with Mahesh Bhupathi in the mixed doubles, she won a Grand Slam title at the Australian Open — in another first for an Indian female player.
Mirza now bases herself in Dubai, with her husband, Pakistani cricketer Shoaib Malik. They live on the Palm Jumeirah.
Follow us on
