Name: Sania Mirza Sport: Tennis Achievements: Gold medal – 2003 Hyderabad Afro-Asian Games – Women's Singles Gold medal – 2003 Hyderabad Afro-Asian Games – Women's Doubles Gold medal – 2003 Hyderabad Afro-Asian Games – Mixed Doubles Gold medal – 2003 Hyderabad Afro-Asian Games – Women's Team Bronze medal – 2002 Busan Asian Games – Mixed Doubles Gold medal – 2006 Doha Asian Games – Mixed Doubles Silver medal – 2006 Doha Asian Games – Women's Singles Silver medal – 2006 Doha Asian Games – Women's Team Silver medal – 2010 Guangzhou Asian Games – Mixed Doubles Bronze medal – 2010 Guangzhou Asian Games – Women's Singles Bronze medal – 2014 Incheon Asian Games – Women's Doubles Gold medal – 2014 Incheon Asian Games –  Mixed Doubles Silver medal – 2010 Delhi Commonwealth Games – Women's Singles Bronze medal – 2010 Delhi Commonwealth Games – Women's Doubles

 

Raised in a family of sportsmen, Sania Mirza's love for sports didn't come as a surprise when the Hyderabadi girl began her career in tennis at the age of six.

 

Mirza was born in Mumbai to Imran Mirza, a builder, and Naseema, who worked in a printing press. Not long after her birth, the family moved to Hyderabad. Sania also has a younger sister Anam. She is the distant relative of former cricket captains Ghulam Ahmed of India, and Asif Iqbal of Pakistan.

 

The 29-year-old Wimbledon champion received an honorary degree of Doctor of Letters from the MGR Educational and Research Institute University in Chennai.

 

Mirza won 10 singles and 13 doubles titles as a junior player. She also won the 2003 Wimbledon Championships Girls' Doubles title with Russian tennis player Alisa Kleybanova by her side.

 

Sania Mirza was named the World No.1 women’s doubles player in April 2015, at the WTA Family Circle Cup in South Carolina.

 

Sania's partnership with Swiss tennis player Martina Hingis earned the duo extraordinary success. Sania's ferocious strokes and Hingis's delicate touches make their partnership unbeatable. The duo won their first three tournaments-Indian Wells Masters, Miami Open and Family Circles Cup.

 

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Apart from tennis, Sania has been involved in other spheres of social life. Mirza is the brand ambassador for the Indian state of Telangana. She also established an academy in Hyderabad for aspiring tennis players.

 

The tennis legend became the first South Asian Woman to be appointed as the UN Women Goodwill Ambassador for South Asia. In 2016, Mirza released an autobiography, Ace Against Odds, co-authored by her father and journalist Shivani Gupta.

 

Being in the limelight, Sania became media's controversy child from a very young age. Brought up in a conservative Muslim family, Sania was criticised for her tennis attire which showed off her legs. Muslim groups called her short skirt and t-shirts tennis garb as "un-Islamic" and "corrupting".  If that wasn't all, she was also named as 'Pakistan's daughter-in-law' when she married Pakistani cricketer Shoaib Malik in 2010.

 

In an interview with The Mint, Mirza said, "It’s easier for a 29-year-old to answer certain questions that I was asked at 17 and 18. It’s easier for me as a woman to understand the struggles and obstacles we have to go through. When I was a teenager, the rest of my friends’ biggest worry was how to sneak out at night, and my worry was to answer the national or international media that was asking me all sorts of questions that had nothing to do with me or my sport."

 

She added, "I had to grow up in front of the world because I became famous at 16 when I won the junior Wimbledon (doubles title). It’s difficult being famous when you’re young. Fortunately, I had a good team and system around me, including my parents, which is why I’m sane at 29."

 

All geared up for the upcoming Rio Olympics which kickstarts on August 5, Sania will be teaming up with Rohan Bopanna for tennis mixed doubles.  She said, "Every time we enter a tournament, we enter to win. Whether we can or not is a separate issue. It’s my third time in the Olympics, and I think people are forgetting that just to represent your country at the Olympics is a big deal. We’re so engrossed in trying to win more medals, but it’s really not that easy. As athletes, we can only promise to give our best."

 

With her merciless forehand and well-placed serves, the tennis idol hopes to ace every match with the expert flick of her wrist.