Sania Mirza born 15 November 1986, in Mumbai) is a professional Indian tennis player. From 2003 through to 2013, she was ranked by the Women's Tennis Association as India's highest ranked player, both in singles and doubles, after which her retirement from the singles competition put Ankita Raina at the top spot.In her career, Mirza has notable wins over Svetlana Kuznetsova, Vera Zvonareva and Marion Bartoli; as well as former World No. 1s Martina Hingis, Dinara Safina, and Victoria Azarenka. She is the highest ranked female player ever from India, with a career high ranking of 27 in singles and 5 in doubles. Throughout her career, she has achieved a number of firsts for her native country, including surpassing US$1 million in career earnings, winning a WTA Tour title, and winning three major titles at the 2009 Australian Open – Mixed Doubles Event, the 2012 French Open – Mixed Doubles Event and the 2014 US Open – Mixed Doubles Event.[4]Mirza was named one of the '50 heroes of Asia' by Time in October 2005. In March 2010, The Economic Times named Mirza in the list of the "33 women who made India proud".[6]Mirza began playing tennis at the age of six, turning professional in 2003. She was trained by her father.Mirza is the third Indian woman in the Open Era to feature and win a round at a Grand Slam tournament (the first one being Nirupama Vaidyanathan at the 1998 Australian Open and the second being Shikha Uberoi at the 2004 US Open). She also became the 1st Indian woman to be seeded in a Grand Slam event at the 2006 Australian Open.[original research
