Sania Mirza

SANIA MIRZA

Birth Date: 15 Nov 1986
Birth Place: Mumbai, India
Residence: Hydrabad, India
Nationality: INDIA
Height: 5'7 1/2" (1.53m)
Weight: 130 lbs. (59kg)
Plays: Right Handed (Double Handed Backhand)
Favourite Surface: Hard
Coach: C.G.K. Bhupathi
Interests: Swimming, Music
Favourite player: Steffi Graf

Sania Mirza began her tennis career in 2003. She is known for her powerful forehand ground strokes. Sania was born to Imran Mirza, a sports journalist and his wife Nasima in Mumbai, India. She was brought up in Hyderabad in a religious Muslim . Sania began playing tennis at the age of six, turning professional in 2003. She was trained by her father and other family members. She attended Nasr school in Hyderabad and later graduated from St. Mary's College.

Sania is the highest ranked female tennis player ever from India, with a career high ranking of 27 in singles and 18 in doubles. She is the first Indian woman to be seeded in a Grand Slam tennis tournament. She was the first Indian woman to reach the fourth round of a Grand Slam tournament at the 2005 U.S. Open. In winning, with Mahesh Bhupathi, the mixed doubles event at the 2009 Australian Open, she became the first Indian woman to win a Grand Slam title.

In 2004 she was awarded the Arjuna award by the Indian Government. In 2006, Sania was awarded a Padma Shri, India's fourth highest honor for her achievements as a tennis player.
Mirza received an honorary degree of Doctor of Letters from the MGR Educational and Research Institute University in Chennai on 2008-12-11.