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Sania Mirza : Tennis
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Sania Mirza (born November 15, 1986, Mumbai, India) is a professional female tennis player from India. She turned professional in 2003. Till date she is the highest ranked female tennis player ever from India (She had a rank of 70, her highest ever, by end-June 2005). As of July 2005, she ranks 5th among Asian women.
She has earned a lot of following in India as she is one of the very few young women from the country to have done well at the highest levels of sport.
Sania began playing tennis at the age of six. Sania won the Wimbledon Championships Girls' Doubles title in 2003, teaming up with Alisa Kleybanova of Russia.
She got a wild card entry to the 2005 Australian Open and created history by becoming the first Indian woman to enter the third round of a Grand Slam tournament. She lost in the 3rd round to eventual champion Serena Williams. 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.
In her Wimbledon Championships debut, Mirza won her first match at the 2005 event, defeating Akiko Morigami of Japan in three very tight sets, 6-3, 3-6, 8-6. However, she was narrowly defeated in the second round by Svetlana Kuznetsova (a player whom she had defeated earlier in the year for her first top ten victory) 4-6, 7-6, 4-6.
Career Highlights
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: 2nd Round: Upset reigning US Open Champion Svetlana Kuznetsova 6-4, 6-2 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.
2003 Junior Wimbledon Championships 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.
