 Imran Mirza, coached his daughter Sania Mirza. Sania began playing tennis at the tender age of six and turned professional in the year 2003. Sania Mirza is the first Indian female tennis player to have made it to the 4th round of a Grand Slam tournament. She achieved this feat at the 2005 US Open. An exciting future prospect, she is the highest ranked Indian female tennis player till date. At the end of the year 2004, Sania was ranked 206. But with some impressive performances in the last couple of years, her ranking has jumped into the top 50s. Of late her performances have been mixed owing to certain injury problems but her ranking continues to remain in the top 50s.
Her other major achievements include finishing runner up in the Asian Tennis Championship in 2004. Based on this performance, Sania was awarded a wild card entry to the 2005 Australian Open. She had a decent run reaching the third round. However, her big moment of glory came on her home turf Hyderabad in February 2005 when she became the first Indian woman to win a WTA singles title by clinching the Hyderabad Open. Sania even has to her credit the Wimbledon Championships Girls` Doubles title, which she won in 2003 along with Alisa Kleybanova of Russia.
During the early stages of her career, the Chairman of the GVK GROUP helped Sania financially. The Chairman was impressed with Sania`s talent and decided to grant her sponsorship. In 2005, Sania Mania gripped the country. It is said she got sponsorships close to U.S. $ 0.35 million per brand a year. And the awards too poured in. Sania was awarded the Arjuna award in 2005. This year (2006) the Government of India awarded her with the Padma Shri. Sania Mirza is also the first ever Indian sportswoman to make her way the cover of Times magazine (South Asian edition). That apart, Sania was also part of 2005 list of Asia`s 50 heroes. But there was no better proof of her performance than her being selected as the WTA`s Most Impressive Newcomer of 2005. As with any celebrity, Sania too has had her share of controversies. A Muslim religious scholar had issued a fatwa against Sania claiming her attire was derogatory to Islamic religion.
However, Sania`s major achievements include the following:
Won 2006 Bangalore Open doubles partnering with Liezel Huber).
Reached the semi-finals of women`s singles and doubles in 2005 Japan Open.
Reaches 4th round of 2005 US Open.
2005 Forest Hills Women`s Tennis Classic, New York: Loses in the final.
2005 Acura Classic: Beats Nadia Petrova in the 2nd round.
2005 Dubai Tennis Championships: Beats then US Open Champion Svetlana Kuznetsova in the 2nd round.
Won 2005 Hyderabad Open singles, becomes first Indian female to win WTA singles title.
2005 Australian Open singles: Becomes first Indian to reach 3rd round.
Won the 2004 Hyderabad Open doubles partnering Liezel Huber.
Won the 2003 Wimbledon Championships Juniors doubles partnering Alisa Kleybanova.
Sania became youngest Indian and 1st Indian woman to win a junior Grand Slam title.
Won four gold medals at the 2003 Afro-Asian Games; Women`s singles, Mixed doubles (with Mahesh Bhupathi), Women`s doubles and Women`s team events (with Rushmi Chakravarthy).
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