Sania Mirza – The Talismanic Tennis Player

In the metropolis of Mumbai, then called Bombay, on 15 November, 1986 a star was born to Imran and Nasima Mirza. The little one was christened Sania. She was soon joined by younger sibling Anam.

The sisters were raised in the Deccan city of Hyderabad (the city of pearls and the magnificent Charminar); then capital of undivided Andhra Pradesh and today the capital of Telangana. The family is related to the fabled Pakistani cricket captain Asif Iqbal and also to the legendary Indian cricketer Ghulam Ahmed.

Meanwhile, the year 1986 is also remembered for singular technological advancements and also for certain disastrous and cataclysmic events.

Scientists of the undivided Soviet Union in their race against adversaries of the Western world and in particular the United States of America successfully launched the Mir Satellite into space in February 1986. A month prior, on 28 January 1986 American scientists encountered an abortive space odyssey. Their shuttle, ‘Challenger’ crashed barely seventy-three minutes after takeoff, snuffing out the lives of all seven crew members.

The war of attrition in the field of technology continued unabated as engineers of France and United Kingdom connected the countries under sea over a distance of 50.45 kms through a tunnel, popularly referred to as the Chunnel. In this seesaw battle between the capitalist world and the communist bloc, the latter suffered a major setback in the shape of the Chernobyl disaster. It was a catastrophic nuclear accident that spread hazardous nuclear radiation across swathes of Europe.

So like a classic tennis match, the ball of scientific achievements moved viciously from one court to another; from perilous moments to sublime gravitas.

The choice lay with potentates and the people. Amidst this agony and ecstasy, sport nurtured and kindled optimism among humans. The USSR in 1986 hosted the first Goodwill Games. Among various sporting events, tennis featured prominently in this sporting carnival.

Which tennis star worth her salt would not like to enter into partnership with tennis icon Martina Hingis? The Indo-Swiss combination of Irza and Hingis successfully eclipsed the twenty-two year old record of a magical run established by Gigi Fernandez and Natasha Zvereva (from America and Belarus respectively) -a partnership of winning twenty eight games- by vanquishing the Romanian- Kazakh team of Raluca Olaru and Yaroslava Shredova respectively in the New York Tennis championship.

Sania Mirza held the racket at a tender age of five. She took to the game like fish to water. The Sunni Muslim was coached by her father Imran Mirza, a builder by profession and was later under the tutelage of Roger Anderson.

She calls Nasr, an estimable school in Hyderabad as her ‘Home’. It was where she was imparted the 3Rs. She was to subsequently graduate from St Mary’s College in Hyderabad and later earned a honourary doctorate from the MGR Educational and Research Institute in the year 2008.

Talking about her game, Sania Mirza has said, “There's no doubt that my forehand and backhand can match anyone, it’s about the place that they're put in. I can hit the ball as hard as anyone can. However I'm not that fast on my feet.”

It is another matter that her game has been mirrored to that of the prodigious Romanian, Ilie Nastase for her proficiency at baseline, ferocious ground strokes and high velocity forehand. This comparison should gladden the hearts of all tennis aspirants and lovers of the game.

It is a matter of immense pride and honour that Sania Mirza was voted to be among ‘50 Heroes of Asia’ in the year 2005. Further, the celebrated Time magazine in the year 2016, counted her among the top 100 influential personalities in the world. The illustrious Economic Times perched this talismanic tennis player among the 33women who engineered to make India proud.

The winner of 6 Grand Slam titles was reckoned by World Tennis Association to be the number 1 mixed doubles player for almost a decade (between 2003 and 2013). She was amongst the highest paid tennis stars in the Indian circuit, who demolished the aspirations of significant players like Svetlana Kuznetsova, Vera Zvonareva, Marion Bartoli, Martina Hingis (her durable doubles partner), Dinara Satina and Victoria Azavenka.

Sania Mirza attained the apogee of 27 ATP individual ranking in the year 2007. This was the highest singles ranking she could ever achieve in her dramatic career.

The virtuosity of her talent can only be gauged by the number of medals she has won for the country and not the wealth she garnered. Sania has won 14 medals in the Asian Games, Afro-American Games and the Commonwealth Games.

People have heard of Sania Mirza and Shoaib Malik's marriage and love. But before they found each other they almost went on separate paths. Shoaib was originally married to Ayesha Siddiqi, a marriage which did not endure the vicissitudes of life. Meanwhile, Sania broke her engagement with millionaire Sohrab Mirza. In 2010 Sania Mirza married Shoaib Malik. The sporting couple recently became proud parents of a baby boy, whom they have decided to call Izhaan Mirza Malik.

Passionate about the game of cricket and swimming, Sania is also fascinated by nature, cats, loves exercising and sporting sun glasses. She endorses GVK industries, Tata Tea, Atlas Cycles and Sahara among others.

The prominent tennis player has been the Regional UN Women Ambassador to South Asia in 2014 and highlights gender issues, empowerment of women, human rights and a fight against cruelty against animals.

Sania Mirza is presently parenting baby Mirza Malik and mentally training to participate in the next Olympic Games, scheduled to be held in Tokyo in 2020. Sania Mirza quite candidly says that she has an attitude and everyone should possess an attitude.

“As tennis players you are never satisfied. We are greedy as players always want better results,” says Sania.

This is reflective of her attitude towards life in general and the game in particular.

Also Read: It’s A Boy, My Girl Is Doing Great: Shoaib After Sania Delivers Baby