For the inaugural edition of the Women’s Premier League (WPL), the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) have roped in Indian tennis stalwart Sania Mirza as the team’s mentor. One of the most successful female tennis players, Mirza is the winner of six Grand Slams and 43 WTA titles.
Mirza was born on November 15, 1986, in Mumbai, Maharashtra to Hyderabadi Muslim parents Imran Mirza, a sports journalist, and his wife Naseema, who worked in a printing business. Shortly after her sister’s birth, her family moved to Hyderabad where she and her younger sister Anam were raised.
She went to a private school called Nasr School in Khairatabad, Hyderabad. Mirza started playing tennis at the tender age of six and was trained by her father. She attended St Mary’s College in Hyderabad. While it’s not clear what exactly she studied in college, Mirza holds a graduate degree. In 2008, Mirza was conferred with an honorary degree of Doctor of Letters from the Dr MGR Educational and Research Institute in Chennai.
Tennis Career
Mirza began playing tennis at the age of six and was trained by her father. She went on to win 10 singles and 13 doubles titles as a junior player, including the Wimbledon Championships and the Afro-Asian Games, both in 2003.
A former doubles world number 1, Mirza won six major titles – three in women’s doubles and three in mixed doubles. From 2003 until her retirement from singles in 2013, she was ranked by the Women’s Tennis Association as the Indian number 1 in singles.
During the 2007 summer hardcourt season, she was at her career best and finished eighth in the 2007 US Open Series standings and her highest singles ranking of world number 27. She won four doubles titles in 2007. Apart from tennis, she is greatly good at cricket and swimming.
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Over the years, she won and lost many matches and rose to a career-high in 2015. She became the first Indian to be ranked world number 1 in WTA’s doubles rankings. She went on maternity leave in 2018 and made a winning comeback in 2020. She along with Nadiia Kichenok won the Hobart International in January 2020. Mirza then announced her retirement in 2022.
In January, Mirza played her last Grand Slam match, at the Australian Open. It ended in defeat as she and Rohan Bopanna went down 6-7(2), 2-6 to the Brazilian pair of Luisa Stefani and Rafael Matos in the final of the mixed doubles event. She also announced that the WTA event in Dubai in February will be her final performance.
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