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Sania Mirza Profile |
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Birth Date: November 15, 1986
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Birth Place: Mumbai, India
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Birth Name: Sania Mirza
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Height: 5'7½"
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Biography |
Sania Mirza (born November 15, 1986, Mumbai and now residing
in Hyderabad) is a professional tennis player from India.
Coached by her father Imran Mirza, Sania, a Muslim, began
playing tennis at the age of six, turning professional in
2003. "My mother took me to a coach, who initially refused
to coach me because I was too small," said Mirza, who is 5
ft. 7 in. tall. "After a month, he called my parents to say
he'd never seen a player that good at such a young age." WTA
interview.
She is the highest ranked female tennis player ever from
India - ranked 31 in singles and 109 in doubles by
mid-October 2005. Her original goal had been to enter the
top 100 by the end of 2005, but she revised this to entering
the top 50 after good performances at the beginning of the
year. As of October 2005, she also ranked 2nd among Asian
women. Her year-end rank in 2004 was 206.
She became the first Indian woman to reach the 4th round of
a Grand Slam tournament at the 2005 US Open, defeating
Mashona Washington, Maria Elena Camerin and Marion Bartoli.
Having secured a wild card entry to the 2005 Australian Open
Mirza reached the third round, losing 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.
Sania won the Wimbledon Championships Girls' Doubles title
in 2003, teaming up with Alisa Kleybanova of Russia.
Mirza has earned a large fan following in India as she is
one of the very few young women from that country to have
done well at the highest levels of sport. The media termed
the phenomenon Sania Mania. She reportedly has sponsorships
to the tune of U.S. $ 0.35 million per brand per annum. In
2005, she was awarded the Arjuna award in tennis for the
year 2004. The Government of India honoured her with Padma
Shri, the fourth highest civilian award in 2006. She has
defeated two top 10 players, Svetlana Kuznetsova and Nadia
Petrova.
Watching her performance in Acura Classics, tennis legend
Pancho Segura, Ecuador-born American player who roamed the
courts in the 1940s and 50s, felt that Sania's hard-hitting
game resembled that of Romanian tennis legend Ilie Nastase -
Segura said that Mirza had a natural way of hitting the ball
and that she hit it hard, like Nastase.
Mirza is also the first Indian sportswoman to feature on the
cover of Time magazine (South Asian edition) and was
included in its 2005 list of Asia's 50 heroes.
Hackles have been raised in some quarters supposedly due to
her attire not being in line with her Muslim background.
According to a Hindustan Times report published September 8,
2005, an unnamed religious scholar had issued a fatwa,
saying that her attire is contrary to what is permitted by
Islam. The Guardian later identified the scholar as
Haseeb-ul-hasan Siddiqui, a leading cleric with the Sunni
Ulema Board. The All-India Shia Muslim Personal Law Board
quickly responded with a statement that called the fatwa
"unnecessary and uncalled for". According to the September
10 Hindustan Times report, Board Chairman Mirza Mohammad
Athar asserted that "Sania had committed no sin by wearing
her choice of dresses on field," and had asked "clerics not
to interfere in matters pertaining to sports."
When off the court Mirza wears the traditional Salwar Kameez,
a nose ring and several ear rings complete her wardrobe.
However, when playing tennis, her dress is typical of
contemporary women tennis players. |
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Other
Information |
Residence: Hydrabad, India
Nationality: INDIA
Weight: 130 lbs. (59kg)
Plays: Right Handed (Double Handed Backhand)
Favourite Surface: Hard
Coach: C.G.K. Bhupathi
Age Began Tennis: 6
Personal Interests: Swimming, Music
Other Information: Ambition in tennis: To be in the Top 20
of the World.
Favourite player: Steffi Graf |
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i like her vary.