It won’t be an exaggeration to say that Sania Mirza gave a new dimension to women tennis in an era mostly dominated by men athletes. She is, undoubtedly, a global sporting icon and a great ambassador to the game. Apart from smashing her fierce opponents to smithereens on the courts, she has shut her ill-informed souls with ferocious verbal volleys off the court as well. After entering the international arena as a 13-year-old for World Championships in Jakarta, she became a permanent entity on global circuits. So, with her announcement that 2022 is going to be her last year in professional tennis, one can’t help but go back to the glorious days of her career.
Women’s Doubles: Three-time Champ
Sania has an incredible track record in the women’s doubles category, thanks to her consistency and perseverance. Not once or twice, she has won the Grand Slam in the doubles segment thrice. Sania along with Martina Hingis secured Wimbledon and US Open in 2015. Then in the preceding year, the partnership bore fruit yet again in the Australian Open. Hence, her career gets highly augmented with three Slams in the doubles category for women.
Mixed Doubles: Triple Bonanza Yet Again
Apart from proving her mettle in the doubles arena, Sania showed the entire world that she can easily ace the mixed doubles category as well. In the mixed segment Sania has got three titles to her credit, thanks to her clinical forehand and powerful volleys. After joining hands with one of the maestros of the game Mahesh Bhupati, she won the Australian Open in 2009 and another Slam in 2012 in the form of the French Open. Her third Slam came in 2014 through US Open but the partner happened to be Bruno Soares of Brazil.
Twin WTA Honours
In the year-end competition involving professionals also she has left an indelible impact. Sania won the WTA titles two times and remains the only female player in India to accomplish the feat. Along with Zimbabwean Cara Black, she won the WTA final in 2014, capping a year of several career highs. The very next year she resolutely defended the WTA title by teaming up with Martina Hingis. In 2015 she got anointed as the World Number one doubles player as well.
Gold Medals: 6 Out Of 14 Overall
Sania has also taken part in several prestigious sporting competitions such as Asian Games, Commonwealth and Olympics. She has got medals in various editions of the Asian Games, with the last being gold in the 2014 Games held at Incheon. Among the 14 medals, she has won so far across multi-sporting tournaments six happened to be gold. However, the only sore point in her career is the lack of an Olympic medal.
National Honours: Padma Awards & Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna
As a result of her professional accomplishments, Sania got bestowed with several national honours. She received Arjuna Award in 2004 and got Padma Shri in 2006. In recognition of her outstanding achievements globally in 2015, she got honoured with the highest sporting award in India, then Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna but now known as Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna. The Padma Bhushan in 2016, the third-highest civilian award in India, happened to be a true testament to the burgeoning cult of Sania.
