Sania Mirza: The Ace Indian Tennis Player

Number of nicknames to her credit like - the ace Indian tennis player, tennis sensation of India, the tennis star of India, youth icon of India or the lone Indian flag bearer at world tennis circuit - Sania Mirza become a rage in India when she reached the forth round of US Open in 2005. With this she became the first and the only Indian woman to reach the 4th round of any Grand Slam event. Also the first Indian to get into the top 50 WTA (Women's Tennis Association) rankings. High rankings of her career till date are like 27 in singles and 18 in doubles.



Sania started playing tennis professionally in 2003. She made her career debut with India Fed Cup team, winning all three singles matches. However also won Wimbledon Championships Girls' Doubles title, partnering with Russian player Alisa Kleybanova in 2003. For her outstanding achievement in the sport, the Indian government awarded her with Arjuna Award in 2004. Later in 2006, she was again awarded by the Government of India with Padma Shri- the fourth highest civilian award of India.

The other awards to her credit includes WTA Newcomer of the Year in 2005. The same year she won her first WTA singles title at Hyderabad Open. In 2006, representing India at Doha Asian Games, Sania won silver in the women's singles, gold in the mixed doubles partnering Leander Paes and silver in Indian women's team. Recently Mirza won mixed doubles grand slam title pairing with compatriot Mahesh Bhupathi at Australian Open 2009. She is the first Indian woman to win a grand slam title.

Giving good performance with each tournament Sania is on her way to success. When asked some time before, Sania told that her aim is to reach top 20 of the WTA listings. The best weapon of Sania is her powerful forehand, which is often compared with the German tennis beauty Steffi Graf. Not only forehand, but backhand and net game are also her weapons. The only thing Sania missing is consistency. Other players of her age are more consistent than her. But that may be because of injuries she is facing at early age of her career. But with hard work and luck, Sania will definitely be the top tennis player in world one day.