Sania Mirza
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Sania Mirza (; born 15 November 1986) is an Indian professional
tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball ...
player. A former doubles world No. 1, she has won six
major Major (commandant in certain jurisdictions) is a military rank of commissioned officer status, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces throughout the world. When used unhyphenated and in conjunction with no other indicators ...
titles – three in women's doubles and three in mixed doubles. From 2003 until her retirement from
singles Singles are people not in a committed relationship. Singles may also refer to: Film and television * ''Singles'' (miniseries), a 1984 Australian television series * ''Singles'' (1992 film), written and directed by Cameron Crowe * ''Singles'' ...
in 2013, she was ranked by the
Women's Tennis Association The Women's Tennis Association (WTA) is the principal organizing body of women's professional tennis. It governs the WTA Tour which is the worldwide professional tennis tour for women and was founded to create a better future for women's tenn ...
as the Indian No. 1 in singles. Throughout her career, Mirza has established herself as one of the most known, highest-paid, and influential athletes in India. In singles, Mirza had wins over Svetlana Kuznetsova,
Vera Zvonareva Vera Igorevna Zvonareva ( rus, Вера Игоревна Звонарёва, p=ˈvʲɛrə ˈiɡərʲɪvnə zvənɐˈrʲɵvə, a=Vera zvonareva.ogg; born 7 September 1984) is a Russian professional tennis player. She was introduced to tennis at ...
, and
Marion Bartoli Marion Bartoli (; born 2 October 1984) is a French former professional tennis player. Bartoli won the 2013 Wimbledon Championships singles title after previously being runner-up in 2007, and was a semifinalist at the 2011 French Open. She also ...
, as well as former world-number-ones
Martina Hingis Martina Hingis (, sk, Martina Hingisová; 30 September 1980) is a Swiss former professional tennis player. Hingis is the first Swiss player, male or female, to win a major title and attain a world No. 1 ranking. She spent a total of 209 weeks a ...
,
Dinara Safina Dinara Mubinovna Safina (; ; tt-Cyrl, Динара Мөбин кызы Сафина; born April 27, 1986) is a Russian former world No. 1 tennis player. Safina was runner-up in singles at the 2008 French Open, 2009 Australian Open, and the ...
, and
Victoria Azarenka Victória Fyódarauna Azárenka ( be, Вікторыя Фёдараўна Азаранка; Russian: Виктория Фёдоровна Азаренко; born 31 July 1989) is a Belarusian professional tennis player. Azarenka is a former w ...
. She is the highest-ranked Indian female player ever, peaking at world No. 27 in mid-2007. However, a major wrist injury caused her to shift to doubles. Mirza has achieved a number of firsts for women's tennis in India, including reaching the one million-US$ mark in career earnings (currently over US$7.2 million), winning a singles
WTA Tour The WTA Tour is a worldwide top-tier tennis tour for women organized by the Women's Tennis Association. The second-tier tour is the WTA 125K series, and third-tier is the ITF Women's Circuit. The men's equivalent is the ATP Tour. WTA Tour tou ...
title, and winning a major title, as well as qualifying for (and eventually winning) the
WTA Finals The WTA Finals (formerly known as the WTA Tour Championships or WTA Championships) is a tournament of the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) played annually at the end of the season. The event is uniquely reserved for players at the top of the WTA ...
in 2014 in doubles partnering
Cara Black Cara Cavell Black (born 17 February 1979) is a Zimbabwean former professional tennis player. Black was primarily a doubles specialist, winning 60 WTA Tour and 11 ITF doubles titles. A former doubles world No. 1, she won ten major titles. By ...
, and defending her title the following year partnering Martina Hingis. Mirza plans to retire from professional tennis after the 2022 season. She is one of only two Indian women to win a WTA Tour title, and the only one to be ranked within the top 100 in singles. Mirza is the third Indian woman in the
Open era The racket sport traditionally named lawn tennis, invented in Birmingham, England now commonly known simply as tennis, is the direct descendant of what is now denoted real tennis or royal tennis, which continues to be played today as a separate sp ...
(after
Nirupama Mankad Nirupama Mankad ('' née'' Vasant; born 17 January 1947) is a former Indian tennis player. She is the first Indian woman in the modern era to play at a main draw of a Grand Slam. Nirupama Mankad is the daughter of G. Vasant, a leading tennis ...
and
Nirupama Sanjeev Nirupama Sanjeev ('' née'' Vaidyanathan; born 8 December 1976) is an Indian former professional tennis player. In the 1998 Australian Open, Sanjeev became the second Indian woman (after Nirupama Mankad) in the Open era to feature in a majo ...
, and the second in singles after Sanjeev) to contest and win a match at a major, and the first to advance past the second round. With 43 titles, Mirza has won more WTA doubles titles on the tour than any other active player. In addition, she has spent 91 weeks as the world No. 1 in doubles. In 2005, Mirza was crowned the Newcomer of the Year by the WTA, and in 2015 she and
Martina Hingis Martina Hingis (, sk, Martina Hingisová; 30 September 1980) is a Swiss former professional tennis player. Hingis is the first Swiss player, male or female, to win a major title and attain a world No. 1 ranking. She spent a total of 209 weeks a ...
were the Doubles Team of the Year, going on to earn a 44-match winning streak, one of the longest in history. Mirza has also won a total of 14 medals (including six golds) at three major multi-sport events, namely the
Asian Games The Asian Games, also known as Asiad, is a continental multi-sport event held every four years among athletes from all over Asia. The Games were regulated by the Asian Games Federation (AGF) from the first Games in New Delhi, India, until t ...
, the
Commonwealth Games The Commonwealth Games, often referred to as the Friendly Games or simply the Comm Games, are a quadrennial international multi-sport event among athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations. The event was first held in 1930, and, with the exce ...
and the
Afro-Asian Games The Afro-Asian Games were the series of inter-continental multi-sport competitions, held between athletes from Asia and Africa. These Games are one-of-a-kind, since no other sporting competition brings athletes from these two continents together ...
. Mirza was named one of the "50 Heroes of Asia" by ''
Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, to ...
'' in October 2005. In March 2010, ''
The Economic Times ''The Economic Times'' is an Indian English-language business-focused daily newspaper. It is owned by The Times Group. ''The Economic Times'' began publication in 1961. As of 2012, it is the world's second-most widely read English-language bus ...
'' named Mirza in its list of the "33 women who made India proud". She was appointed as the UN Women's Goodwill Ambassador for South Asia during the International Day To End Violence Against Women on 25 November 2013. She was named in ''Time'' magazine's 2016 list of the 100 most influential people in the world.


Early life

Sania Mirza was born on 15 November 1986 in
Mumbai Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second- ...
to
Hyderabadi Muslim Hyderabadi Muslims, also referred to as Hyderabadis are a community of Deccani people, who are part of a larger ethnic group of Urdu-speaking Muslims, from the area that used to be the princely state of Hyderabad in the regions of Marathwada ...
parents Imran Mirza, a sports journalist, and his wife Naseema, who worked in a printing business. Shortly after her birth, her family moved to
Hyderabad Hyderabad ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana and the ''de jure'' capital of Andhra Pradesh. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River (India), Musi River, in the northern part ...
where she and younger sister Anam were raised in a religious Sunni Muslim family. Anam is married to cricketer Mohammad Asaduddin, the son of former
India national cricket team The India men's national cricket team, also known as Team India or the Men in Blue, represents India in men's international cricket. It is governed by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), and is a List of International Cricket Cou ...
captain,
Mohammad Azharuddin Mohammad Azharuddin (born 8 February 1963) is an Indian politician and a former international cricketer and former captain of India national cricket team. He is the working president of the Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee and was the mem ...
. She is the distant relative of former
cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...
captains Ghulam Ahmed of India, and Asif Iqbal of Pakistan. She took up tennis at the age of six. She has been coached by her father and also Roger Anderson. She attended
Nasr School Nasr School is a private school chain in Hyderabad, Telangana, India, run by The Nasr Education Society and affiliated to Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations(CISCE). Nasr Education Society celebrated its Golden Jubilee year in ...
in Hyderabad. She later graduated from the St. Mary's College, Hyderabad. Mirza also received an
honorary degree An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or ''ad hono ...
of
Doctor of Letters Doctor of Letters (D.Litt., Litt.D., Latin: ' or ') is a terminal degree in the humanities that, depending on the country, is a higher doctorate after the Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) degree or equivalent to a higher doctorate, such as the Docto ...
from the Dr. M.G.R. Educational and Research Institute in
Chennai Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...
on 11 December 2008. Apart from tennis, Mirza is also particularly good at cricket and swimming.


Tennis career


2001–2003: Success on the ITF Junior Circuit

Sania Mirza began playing tennis at the age of six, turning professional in 2003. She was trained by her father. Mirza won ten singles and thirteen doubles titles as a junior player. She won the
2003 Wimbledon Championships The 2003 Wimbledon Championships was a tennis tournament played on grass courts at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in Wimbledon, London in the United Kingdom. It was the 117th edition of the Wimbledon Championships and were held fr ...
girls' doubles title, partnering
Alisa Kleybanova Alisa Mikhailovna Kleybanova (russian: Алиса Михайловна Клейбанова, born 15 July 1989) is a Russian former tennis player. Her career-high singles ranking is world No. 20, achieved in February 2011. In her career. she wo ...
. She also reached the semifinals of the 2003 US Open girls' doubles, with
Sanaa Bhambri Sanaa Bhambri ( hi, सना भाम्बरी; born 7 March 1988) is a former professional tennis player from India. Her highest doubles ranking is world No. 298, which she achieved October 2005. She won one $25k doubles event at Lagos, N ...
, and the quarterfinals of the 2002 US Open girls' doubles. On the senior circuit, Mirza started to show early success as she made her debut in April 2001 on the ITF Circuit as a 15-year-old. Her highlights of 2001 include a quarterfinal showing in
Pune Pune (; ; also known as Poona, (List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name from 1818 until 1978) is one of the most important industrial and educational hubs of India, with an estimated population of 7.4 million ...
and a semifinal finish in
New Delhi New Delhi (, , ''Naī Dillī'') is the capital of India and a part of the National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, Parliament House ...
. As the 2002 season began, she turned around a season of early losses to winning three straight titles; her first in her hometown Hyderabad and the other two in
Manila Manila ( , ; fil, Maynila, ), officially the City of Manila ( fil, Lungsod ng Maynila, ), is the capital of the Philippines, and its second-most populous city. It is highly urbanized and, as of 2019, was the world's most densely populate ...
, Philippines. Sania Mirza clinched the women's gold medal in tennis in 2002 National Games of India in Hyderabad at the age of 16 years. In February 2003, Mirza was given a wildcard to play in her first ever WTA tournament, at the Hyderabad Open, in her hometown. She lost the tough first round encounter to Australia's
Evie Dominikovic Evie Dominikovic ( hr, Evie Dominiković, ; born 29 May 1980) is a retired Australian tennis player. Her younger sister (by seven years) is the fellow former tennis player Daniella Dominikovic (later Daniella Jeflea). Evie Dominikovic also has ...
in three sets. The following week, at the Qatar Ladies Open, she fell to Czech
Olga Blahotová Olga may refer to: People and fictional characters * Olga (name), a given name, including a list of people and fictional characters named Olga or Olha * Michael Algar (born 1962), English singer also known as "Olga" Places Russia * Olga, Russia ...
in the first qualifying round. She had a good result representing India on the
Fed Cup The Billie Jean King Cup (or the BJK Cup) is the premier international team competition in women's tennis, launched as the Federation Cup in 1963 to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the International Tennis Federation (ITF). The name was cha ...
, winning three straight matches. She helped India win a
bronze medal A bronze medal in sports and other similar areas involving competition is a medal made of bronze awarded to the third-place finisher of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, etc. The outright winner receive ...
in the mixed doubles event of the 2002 Asian Games in Busan, partnering
Leander Paes Leander Adrian Paes ( ; born 17 June 1973) is an Indian former professional tennis player. He is regarded as one of the greatest doubles tennis players ever. He holds the record for the most doubles wins in the Davis Cup. Paes won eight men's ...
. In addition, Mirza picked up four
gold medal A gold medal is a medal awarded for highest achievement in a non-military field. Its name derives from the use of at least a fraction of gold in form of plating or alloying in its manufacture. Since the eighteenth century, gold medals have bee ...
s at the 2003 Afro-Asian Games in Hyderabad.


2004–2005: Success in WTA Tour and Grand Slam tournaments

At her hometown event, the Hyderabad Open, Mirza was a wildcard entrant. She put up a good fight against the fourth seed and eventual champion,
Nicole Pratt Nicole Pratt (born 5 March 1973) is a retired tennis player from Australia. Pratt was born in Mackay, Queensland. She is the middle sibling of five children of cane farmers and was taught to play by her father, George, who was a top junior pl ...
, in round one, but lost in three sets. She won her first WTA doubles title at the same event, partnering
Liezel Huber Liezel Huber (née Horn; born 21 August 1976) is a South African-American retired tennis player who represented the United States internationally since August 2007. Huber has won four Grand Slam titles in women's doubles with partner Cara Blac ...
. She then received a wildcard to compete at
Casablanca Casablanca, also known in Arabic as Dar al-Bayda ( ar, الدَّار الْبَيْضَاء, al-Dār al-Bayḍāʾ, ; ber, ⴹⴹⴰⵕⵍⴱⵉⴹⴰ, ḍḍaṛlbiḍa, : "White House") is the largest city in Morocco and the country's econom ...
, Morocco, but suffered a first-round defeat by eventual champion
Émilie Loit Émilie Loit (; born 9 June 1979) is a retired tennis player from France. Besides her three career singles titles, all on clay, included Estoril and Casablanca both in 2004, and Acapulco in 2007, she won 16 doubles titles on the WTA Tour Th ...
. On the ITF Circuit, Mirza ended runner-up at the Palm Beach Gardens Challenger where she fell to
Sesil Karatantcheva Sesil Radoslavova Karatantcheva ( bg, Сесил Радославова Каратанчева; born 8 August 1989) is a Bulgarian former tennis player. In her career, she won nine singles titles on the ITF Women's Circuit. On 7 November 2005, ...
. Mirza won six ITF singles titles in 2004. Going into the 2005 Australian Open, she defeated Cindy Watson and
Petra Mandula Petra Mandula (; born 17 January 1978) is a Hungarian former professional tennis player, who represented her native country at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney; in singles, she was eliminated in the first round by fourth seed Conchita Martíne ...
in the first and second rounds, respectively, to reach the third round where she was beaten in straight sets by eventual champion
Serena Williams Serena Jameka Williams (born September 26, 1981) is an American inactive professional tennis player. Considered among the greatest tennis players of all time, she was ranked world No. 1 in singles by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) for ...
. In February, Mirza became the first-ever Indian woman to win a
WTA Tour The WTA Tour is a worldwide top-tier tennis tour for women organized by the Women's Tennis Association. The second-tier tour is the WTA 125K series, and third-tier is the ITF Women's Circuit. The men's equivalent is the ATP Tour. WTA Tour tou ...
title, by winning her hometown event, the Hyderabad Open, defeating ninth-seeded
Alona Bondarenko Alona Volodymyrivna Bondarenko Dyachok ( uk, Альона Володимирівна Бондаренко; born 13 August 1984) is a Ukrainian former tennis player. Her younger sister Kateryna Bondarenko plays on the WTA Tour. Her career-high s ...
in the final. At
Dubai Dubai (, ; ar, دبي, translit=Dubayy, , ) is the most populous city in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the capital of the Emirate of Dubai, the most populated of the 7 emirates of the United Arab Emirates.The Government and Politics of ...
, she upset in round two 4th seed and reigning US Open champion Svetlana Kuznetsova to reach the biggest quarterfinal of her career. In the second round of the
Wimbledon Championships The Wimbledon Championships, commonly known simply as Wimbledon, is the oldest tennis tournament in the world and is widely regarded as the most prestigious. It has been held at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, All England Club in ...
, she lost to Kuznetsova in a tight three-setter. In August, she reached the third round at the Stanford Classic, falling to Morigami. Mirza reached her second WTA final at the
Forest Hills Tennis Classic The Forest Hills Tennis Classic is a defunct professional women's tennis tournament played on outdoor hard courts. It was part of the Tier V Series of the WTA Tour in 2004, then of the Tier IV Series from 2005 to 2008. It was held annually at t ...
, falling to Lucie Šafářová. Mirza became the first Indian woman to reach the fourth round of a Grand Slam tournament at the US Open, defeating
Mashona Washington Mashona Washington (born May 31, 1976) is a retired tennis player from the United States. Her career-high singles ranking is No. 50, achieved on November 8, 2004. On July 18, 2005, she peaked at No. 55 in the doubles rankings. Washington retired ...
,
Maria Elena Camerin Maria Elena Camerin (born 21 March 1982) is a former professional tennis player from Italy. In her career, Camerin won three doubles titles on the WTA Tour, as well as ten singles and nine doubles titles on the ITF Circuit. On 11 October 2004 ...
and
Marion Bartoli Marion Bartoli (; born 2 October 1984) is a French former professional tennis player. Bartoli won the 2013 Wimbledon Championships singles title after previously being runner-up in 2007, and was a semifinalist at the 2011 French Open. She also ...
, before losing to top seed
Maria Sharapova Maria Yuryevna Sharapova ( , ; rus, Мари́я Ю́рьевна Шара́пова, p=mɐˈrʲijə ʂɐˈrapəvə, a=Maria_sharapova.ogg; born 19 April 1987) is a Russian former world No. 1 tennis player. She competed on the WTA Tour from 2 ...
, in the round of 16. At the
Japan Women's Open The Japan Women's Open Tennis is a professional women's tennis tournament played on outdoor hard courts. The event is affiliated with the Women's Tennis Association (WTA), and is an International-level tournament on the WTA Tour. As successor to ...
, Mirza reached semifinals with wins over
Vilmarie Castellvi Vilmarie Castellvi (born 21 March 1981) is a former professional tennis player from Puerto Rico. She received a wildcard to play at the 2005 Sunfeast Open and defeated Emmanuelle Gagliardi in the first round but lost to Karolina Šprem in the s ...
,
Aiko Nakamura (born 28 December 1983), is a Japanese former professional tennis player. In July 2008, she was the second highest WTA-ranked Japanese singles tennis player, at No. 107, after Ai Sugiyama. Nakamura was born in Tennōji-ku, Osaka. Like her ...
and
Vera Zvonareva Vera Igorevna Zvonareva ( rus, Вера Игоревна Звонарёва, p=ˈvʲɛrə ˈiɡərʲɪvnə zvənɐˈrʲɵvə, a=Vera zvonareva.ogg; born 7 September 1984) is a Russian professional tennis player. She was introduced to tennis at ...
, before being overpowered by
Tatiana Golovin Tatiana Golovin ( rus, Татья́на Григóрьевна Головина́, r=Tatyana Grigoryevna Golovina; born 25 January 1988) is a Russian-born French professional tennis player. She won the 2004 French Open mixed-doubles event, partner ...
. Thanks to a successful 2005 season, Mirza was named the
WTA Newcomer of the Year This article lists the WTA Awards given by the Women's Tennis Association to players and coaches for achievements during a season or their careers. Player of the Year Doubles Team of the Year Most Improved Player Newcomer of the Yea ...
.


2006–2007: Top 30 singles breakthrough

Mirza was seeded at the 2006 Australian Open (the first female Indian to be seeded in a Grand Slam event), only falling to
Michaëlla Krajicek Michaëlla Krajicek ( cz, Michaela Krajíčková; born 9 January 1989) is a Dutch former tennis player. She won three singles and five doubles titles on the WTA Tour, as well as one WTA 125 doubles title, and 14 singles and 22 doubles titles on ...
. Next she fell to Camille Pin at the
Bangalore Open The Bengaluru Open is a professional tennis tournament played on hard courts. It is currently part of the ATP Challenger Tour. It is held annually in Bangalore Bangalore (), List of renamed places in India, officially Bengaluru (), is ...
, but won the doubles title partnering Huber. She played at the
Dubai Tennis Championships The Dubai Tennis Championships or Dubai Open (also known as the ''Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships'' for sponsorship reasons) (formerly known for sponsorship reasons as the ''Barclays Dubai Tennis Championships'' and the ''Dubai Duty Free Men's ...
but lost to
Martina Hingis Martina Hingis (, sk, Martina Hingisová; 30 September 1980) is a Swiss former professional tennis player. Hingis is the first Swiss player, male or female, to win a major title and attain a world No. 1 ranking. She spent a total of 209 weeks a ...
. At the Indian Wells Open, she reached the third round but lost to
Elena Dementieva Elena Viacheslavovna Dementieva (, ; born 15 October 1981) is a Russian former professional tennis player. She won the singles gold medal at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, having previously won the silver medal at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney. ...
. She also lost in the first round of the
French Open The French Open (french: Internationaux de France de tennis), also known as Roland-Garros (), is a major tennis tournament held over two weeks at the Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France, beginning in late May each year. The tournament and ven ...
Grand Slam to
Anastasia Myskina Anastasia Andreyevna Myskina ( rus, Анастасия Андреевна Мыскина ; born 8 July 1981) is a Russian former professional tennis player. Myskina won the 2004 French Open singles title, becoming the first Russian woman to wi ...
. Her next tournament was the Birmingham Classic where she defeated Alona Bondarenko and
Shenay Perry Shenay Perry (born July 6, 1984) is a retired tennis player from the U.S. She is the current coach of professional tennis player Kristie Ahn Kristie Hyerim Ahn (born June 15, 1992) is an American former professional tennis player. She has won ...
to reach the third round, where she was overpowered by
Meilen Tu Meilen Tu (traditional Chinese: 涂美倫, simplified Chinese: 涂美伦, Hanyu Pinyin: ''Tú Měilún'') (born January 17, 1978) is a retired professional tennis player from the U.S. She has won one WTA Tour singles title, four WTA Tour doubles ...
. She also reached the quarterfinals of the
Cincinnati Open The Cincinnati Masters or Cincinnati Open (branded as the Western & Southern Open for sponsorship reasons) is an annual outdoor hardcourt tennis event held in Mason, Ohio near Cincinnati. The event started on September 18, 1899, and is the olde ...
and the third round of the Stanford Classic, falling to
Patty Schnyder Patty Schnyder (born 14 December 1978)
Weltwoche, 14. September 2011
is a Swiss reti ...
and
Elena Dementieva Elena Viacheslavovna Dementieva (, ; born 15 October 1981) is a Russian former professional tennis player. She won the singles gold medal at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, having previously won the silver medal at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney. ...
, respectively. She reached the second round of the US Open, losing to
Francesca Schiavone Francesca Schiavone (; born 23 June 1980) is an Italian former professional tennis player. She turned professional in 1998 and won the 2010 French Open singles title, becoming the first Italian woman to win a Grand Slam event in singles. She w ...
. In September, she reached the semifinals of the San Diego Open, losing to eventual champion and top seed Martina Hingis. She also won the doubles title there partnering Huber. Mirza made the quarterfinals of the Korea Open (defeating top seed Hingis en route) and the
Tashkent Open The Tashkent Open by Zeromax is a women's tennis tournament held in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. Held since 1999, this WTA Tour The WTA Tour is a worldwide top-tier tennis tour for women organized by the Women's Tennis Association. The second-tier tou ...
. In December, Mirza picked up three medals at the Doha Asian Games—gold, in mixed doubles and silver in women's singles and team. In 2006, Mirza notched up three top-ten wins against Svetlana Kuznetsova,
Nadia Petrova Nadezhda Viktorovna "Nadia" Petrova (russian: Надежда Викторовна Петрова ; born 8 June 1982) is a Russian former professional tennis player. A former top-five player in both singles and doubles, she reached a career-high ...
and Martina Hingis. Mirza started 2007 in strong fashion, making it to the semifinals of Hobart, the second round of the
Australian Open The Australian Open is a tennis tournament held annually at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Australia. The tournament is the first of the four Grand Slam tennis events held each year, preceding the French Open, Wimbledon, and the US Open. Th ...
, semifinals in
Pattaya Pattaya ( th, พัทยา, , ) is a city in Thailand. It is on the east coast of the Gulf of Thailand, about southeast of Bangkok, within, but not part of, Bang Lamung district in the province of Chonburi province, Chonburi. Pattaya City ( ...
, and the quarterfinals in
Bangalore Bangalore (), officially Bengaluru (), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Karnataka. It has a population of more than and a metropolitan population of around , making it the third most populous city and fifth most ...
. At the
French Open The French Open (french: Internationaux de France de tennis), also known as Roland-Garros (), is a major tennis tournament held over two weeks at the Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France, beginning in late May each year. The tournament and ven ...
, Mirza lost the battle against Ana Ivanovic in the second round. She also fell in the second round at the
Wimbledon Championships The Wimbledon Championships, commonly known simply as Wimbledon, is the oldest tennis tournament in the world and is widely regarded as the most prestigious. It has been held at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, All England Club in ...
to Nadia Petrova. Mirza had the best results of her career during the 2007 summer hardcourt season, finishing eighth in the 2007
US Open Series The US Open Series is the name given by the United States Tennis Association (USTA) to a series of North American professional tennis tournaments leading up to and including the US Open. It is part of the "North American hard court season". Emira ...
standings and reaching her highest singles ranking of world No. 27. She reached the quarterfinals in San Diego, the semifinals at Cincinnati, and made it to the final at Stanford. She also won the doubles event in Cincinnati with
Shahar Pe'er Shahar Pe'er ( he, שחר פאר, ; born ) is an Israeli retired tennis player. Pe'er won five singles and three doubles titles on the WTA Tour, as well as four singles and three doubles titles on the ITF circuit in her career. She reached ...
. At the US Open, she reached the third round before losing to
Anna Chakvetadze Anna Djambuliovna Chakvetadze ( ; born 5 March 1987) is a Russian former professional tennis player. In her career, Chakvetadze won eight WTA Tour singles titles, the biggest being the 2006 Kremlin Cup. She booked her highest singles ranking o ...
for the third time in recent weeks. She fared much better in the doubles competition, reaching the quarterfinals in mixed doubles with her partner
Mahesh Bhupathi Mahesh Shrinivas Bhupathi (born 7 June 1974) is an Indian former doubles world No. 1 tennis player. In 1997, he became the first Indian to win a major tournament (with Rika Hiraki). With his win at the 2006 Australian Open mixed doubles, he ...
and the quarterfinals in the women's doubles with
Bethanie Mattek Bethanie Mattek-Sands ( Bethanie Lynn Mattek; born March 23, 1985) is an American professional tennis player. She has won nine Grand Slam titles (five in women's doubles and four in mixed doubles), and an Olympic gold medal, and is a former w ...
, including a win over number two seeds
Lisa Raymond Lisa Raymond (born August 10, 1973) is an American retired professional tennis player who has achieved notable success in doubles tennis. Raymond has eleven Grand Slam titles to her name: six in women's doubles and five in mixed doubles. On J ...
and
Samantha Stosur Samantha Jane Stosur ( ; born 30 March 1984) is an Australian professional tennis player. She is a former world No. 1 in doubles, a ranking which she first achieved on 6 February 2006 and held for 61 consecutive weeks. Also a former top ten s ...
. She won four doubles titles in 2007.


2008–2009: Grand Slam mixed-doubles championship

Mirza reached the quarterfinals at Hobart as the No. 6 seed and lost to
Flavia Pennetta Flavia Pennetta (; born 25 February 1982) is an Italian former professional tennis player. She became Italy's first top-ten female singles player on 17 August 2009 and the first Italian to be ranked world No. 1 in doubles, on 28 February 2011. ...
in three sets. She reached the third round at the
Australian Open The Australian Open is a tennis tournament held annually at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Australia. The tournament is the first of the four Grand Slam tennis events held each year, preceding the French Open, Wimbledon, and the US Open. Th ...
as No. 31 seed, in which she lost to No. 8 seed
Venus Williams Venus Ebony Starr Williams (born June 17, 1980) is an American professional tennis player. A former world No. 1 in both singles and doubles, Williams has won seven Grand Slam singles titles, five at Wimbledon and two at the US Open. She is ...
having been up a break in the first set. She ended runner-up in the Australian Open mixed doubles partnering Mahesh Bhupathi, where they lost in straight sets to Sun Tiantian and
Nenad Zimonjić Nenad Zimonjić ( sr-Cyrl, Ненад Зимоњић, ; born 4 June 1976) is a Serbian former professional tennis player who was ranked world No. 1 in doubles. He is an eight-time Grand Slam champion, having won the 2008 and 2009 Wimbledon Cha ...
. She had to withdraw from the Pattaya Open because of a left abductor strain. She reached round four at Indian Wells as the No. 21 seed, defeating ninth seed Shahar Pe'er en route, but lost to No. 5 seed
Daniela Hantuchová Daniela Hantuchová (; born 23 April 1983) is a Slovak tennis commentator and retired player. She turned professional in 1999 and had her breakthrough year in 2002, when she won her first WTA Tour title at the Indian Wells Masters, defeating Mar ...
. On grass, Mirza was crushed in the second round of Birmingham by
Marina Erakovic Marina Erakovic ( ; hr, Marina Eraković ; born 6 March 1988) is a retired tennis player from New Zealand. She achieved career-high rankings of 39 in singles and 25 in doubles, and won one singles title, at Memphis in February 2013, and eigh ...
. At the 2008 Wimbledon Championships, as the No. 32 seed, Mirza was defeated by qualifier
María José Martínez Sánchez María José Martínez Sánchez (; born 12 August 1982) is a Spanish retired professional tennis player. In singles, she has won five WTA singles titles, her biggest being a Premier 5 title at the 2010 Italian Open where she defeated two form ...
in round two, having had several match points. Mirza represented India at the
Beijing Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Na ...
but was eliminated from singles when she retired during her match against
Iveta Benešová Iveta Benešová () (formerly Melzer, cs, Melzerová; born 1 February 1983) is a Czech former tennis player. She began playing tennis at age of seven and turned professional in 1998. She won two WTA Tour singles and 14 doubles tournaments, and ...
because of a right wrist injury. For doubles, she got a walkover through the first round with
Sunitha Rao Sunitha Rao (born October 27, 1985) is an American former professional tennis player, who represented India in international tournaments. She won eight doubles titles on the ITF Circuit in her career. On July 7, 2008, she reached her best singl ...
, but lost in the second to the Russian duo. Throughout 2008, Mirza was plagued by a slew of wrist injuries, requiring her to withdraw from several matches including those of the
French Open The French Open (french: Internationaux de France de tennis), also known as Roland-Garros (), is a major tennis tournament held over two weeks at the Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France, beginning in late May each year. The tournament and ven ...
and US Open majors. Mirza started her year by playing at the doubles event of the
Hobart International The Hobart International is a women's professional tennis tournament held at the Hobart International Tennis Centre in Hobart, Australia. Held since 1994, it forms a part of the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) Tour and is classed as an Interna ...
. Partnering Francesca Schiavone, they reached the quarterfinals. At 2009 Australian Open, she won her first-round match against
Marta Domachowska Marta Domachowska (; born 16 January 1986) is a former tennis player from Poland. She was ranked world No. 37 in singles (2006) and No. 62 in doubles (2006), and reached 2008 Australian Open fourth round in singles and won 2006 Canberra Interna ...
, but she fell against tenth seed Nadia Petrova in round two. In doubles she lost in the first round partnering
Vania King Vania King (born February 3, 1989) is an American former tennis player. A former top-ten doubles player, King won both the Wimbledon and US Open women's doubles titles in 2010 with partner Yaroslava Shvedova, with whom she also reached the f ...
. But in
mixed doubles Mixed doubles or mixed pairs is a form of mixed-sex sports that consists of teams of one man and one woman. This variation of competition is prominent in curling and racket sports, such as tennis, table tennis and badminton (where it is known as ...
, Mirza picked up her first Australian Open
Grand Slam Grand Slam most often refers to: * Grand Slam (tennis), one player or pair winning all four major annual tournaments, or the tournaments themselves Grand Slam or Grand slam may also refer to: Games and sports * Grand slam, winning category te ...
title. Partnering with Mahesh Bhupathi, she beat
Nathalie Dechy Nathalie Dechy (born 21 February 1979) is a former professional tennis player from France. Dechy is a three-time doubles Grand Slam champion, winning the 2006 US Open women's doubles title with Vera Zvonareva, the 2007 French Open mixed doubl ...
and
Andy Ram Andreas "Andy" Ram ( he, אנדי רם; born April 10, 1980) is a retired Israeli professional tennis player. He was primarily a doubles player, and competed in three Olympics. He is the first Israeli tennis player to win a senior Grand Slam ...
in the final. She then entered the
Pattaya Women's Open The Thailand Open (also known as PTT Pattaya Open) was a women's tennis tournament held in Pattaya, Thailand. Held since 1991, this WTA Tour event was classified as an International Series tournament and was played on hardcourts. The event wa ...
and reached the final after a string of good performances but lost to Vera Zvonareva. She made the semifinals in doubles in the same tournament. Mirza then competed in Indian Wells where she lost in the second round to Flavia Pennetta. She then lost to
Mathilde Johansson Mathilde Johansson (born 28 April 1985) is a Swedish-born retired French tennis player.Miami Open. However, Mirza and her doubles partner Chuang Chia-jung made the semifinals of the women's doubles. Mirza also lost in the first round of the
MPS Group Championships The Amelia Island Championships was a women's tennis tournament held in Amelia Island Plantation and later Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, United States. The Women's Tennis Association event was an WTA International tournaments, International series t ...
but won the doubles title with Chuang. She again lost in the first round at Roland Garros, to
Galina Voskoboeva Galina Olegovna Voskoboeva (russian: Галина Олеговна Воскобоева; born 18 December 1984) is a professional Russian-born Kazakhstani tennis player. She reached a career-high singles ranking of world No. 42 on 7 May 2012. He ...
. On grass, Mirza participated at the Birmingham Classic and reached the semifinals, losing to
Magdaléna Rybáriková Magdaléna Rybáriková (; born 4 October 1988) is a retired Slovak tennis player. In her career, she won four singles titles and one doubles title on the WTA Tour. Rybáriková reached the semifinals of the 2017 Wimbledon Championships and br ...
. At
Wimbledon Wimbledon most often refers to: * Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London * Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships Wimbledon may also refer to: Places London * ...
, Mirza defeated
Anna-Lena Grönefeld Anna-Lena Grönefeld (also spelled Groenefeld; born 4 June 1985) is a German former professional tennis player. Competing as a professional from 2003 until 2019, she won one singles title on the WTA Tour, at the 2006 Mexican Open, and reached t ...
in the first round, before falling to No. 28 seed
Sorana Cîrstea Sorana Mihaela Cîrstea (; born 7 April 1990) is a Romanian professional tennis player. In singles, she achieved a career-high ranking of world No. 21 on 12 August 2013. In doubles, her career-high ranking is No. 35, which she reached on 9 March ...
in the second. She also lost in the second round of the doubles (with Chuang) and
mixed doubles Mixed doubles or mixed pairs is a form of mixed-sex sports that consists of teams of one man and one woman. This variation of competition is prominent in curling and racket sports, such as tennis, table tennis and badminton (where it is known as ...
(with Bhupathi). Next, Mirza went to Lexington to compete in the Tennis Championships, and won the title after a few good wins. Her next two tournaments were in Canada, where she had mixed results. She managed it all the way to the final at the
Vancouver Open The VanOpen, currently sponsored as Odlum Brown VanOpen, is a professional tennis tournament played on outdoor hardcourts. It is part of the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) Challenger Tour, and of the ITF Women's Circuit. It is h ...
but was beaten by
Stéphanie Dubois Stéphanie Dubois (born October 31, 1986) is a former tennis player from Canada. She turned professional in 2004 and achieved a career-best ranking of world No. 87 in January 2012. Dubois was awarded Female Player of the Year by Tennis Canada tw ...
. At the
Rogers Cup The Canadian Open (french: Tournoi de tennis du Canada), also known as the Canada Masters, and currently branded as the National Bank Open presented by Rogers for sponsorship reasons, is an annual tennis tournament held in Ontario and Quebec. T ...
, she fell to
Heidi El Tabakh Heidi El Tabakh (born September 25, 1986) is an Egyptian-born Canadian former professional tennis player. Her highest singles ranking by the WTA is 146, which she reached in October 2012. Her career-high of 173 in doubles, she set in February 20 ...
in the second qualifying round. Playing in the US Open, she defeated
Olga Govortsova Olga Alekseyevna Govortsova ( be, Вольга Аляксееўна Гаварцова (Volha Alyakseyeuna Havartsova); ; born 23 August 1988) is a Belarusian professional tennis player. On 23 June 2008, she achieved a career-high singles ranki ...
in the first round, but was double-bageled by tenth seed Flavia Pennetta in the second. She also lost in the second round of the doubles event (partnering Francesca Schiavone) to Shahar Pe'er and Gisela Dulko. Mirza then went to Japan, where she qualified for the Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo but lost in the first round to
Zheng Jie Zheng Jie (born 5 July 1983) is a retired tennis player from China. In May 2009, she achieved a career-high singles ranking of world No. 15. Zheng is one of the most successful tennis players from China. She won four WTA singles titles – Ho ...
. At
Osaka is a designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the third most populous city in Japan, following Special wards of Tokyo and Yokohama. With a population of 2. ...
, Mirza won against fifth seed Shahar Pe'er and
Viktoriya Kutuzova Viktoriya Kutuzova ( uk, Вікторія Кутузова, born 19 August 1988) is a former tennis player from Ukraine. On 28 November 2005, she reached her career-high singles ranking of world No. 76. Career Even though considered a potential ...
and in the quarterfinal, she defeated second seed
Marion Bartoli Marion Bartoli (; born 2 October 1984) is a French former professional tennis player. Bartoli won the 2013 Wimbledon Championships singles title after previously being runner-up in 2007, and was a semifinalist at the 2011 French Open. She also ...
by retirement. Mirza moved on to the semifinal, where she lost to Francesca Schiavone.


2010–2012: Injury, struggles & doubles specialization

Mirza began her year at the Auckland Open where she won her first-round match against
Stefanie Vögele Stefanie Vögele (born 10 March 1990) is a former professional Swiss tennis player. She achieved a career-high singles ranking of world No. 42 on 11 November 2013. Her highest WTA ranking in doubles is 100, which she reached on 5 January 2015. O ...
, but was crushed by fourth seed Francesca Schiavone in the second round. Mirza then suffered two first-round losses at the
Hobart International The Hobart International is a women's professional tennis tournament held at the Hobart International Tennis Centre in Hobart, Australia. Held since 1994, it forms a part of the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) Tour and is classed as an Interna ...
and the
Australian Open The Australian Open is a tennis tournament held annually at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Australia. The tournament is the first of the four Grand Slam tennis events held each year, preceding the French Open, Wimbledon, and the US Open. Th ...
. In February, she competed in the Pattaya Open as the sixth seed, but was upset by
Tatjana Malek Tatjana Maria (née Malek; born 8 August 1987) is a German professional tennis player. In November 2017, she reached her best singles ranking of world No. 46, and in June 2016, she peaked at No. 54 in the doubles rankings. She has won two single ...
. She then played in
Dubai Dubai (, ; ar, دبي, translit=Dubayy, , ) is the most populous city in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the capital of the Emirate of Dubai, the most populated of the 7 emirates of the United Arab Emirates.The Government and Politics of ...
but suffered a first-round defeat to
Anabel Medina Garrigues Ana Isabel Medina Garrigues (, ; born 31 July 1982) is a Spanish tennis coach and former professional player. As a player she reached a career-high ranking of world No. 16 in 2020, and won 11 singles and 28 doubles titles, including the 2008 ...
. Mirza was forced to withdraw from the Miami Open, the Indian Wells Open and the
Family Circle Cup The Credit One Charleston Open, formerly known as the Volvo Car Open and the Family Circle Cup, is a WTA Tour-affiliated professional tennis tournament for women, held every year since 1973. It is the oldest professional all-women's tournament in ...
due to a right wrist injury. This injury also caused her to pull out of the
French Open The French Open (french: Internationaux de France de tennis), also known as Roland-Garros (), is a major tennis tournament held over two weeks at the Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France, beginning in late May each year. The tournament and ven ...
. She returned at the Birmingham Classic, where she lost in the second round to
Tamarine Tanasugarn Tamarine Tanasugarn ( th, แทมมารีน ธนสุกาญจน์, , ; born 24 May 1977) is a Thai former tennis player. Born in Los Angeles, she turned professional in 1994, and has been in the top 20 in both singles and doubl ...
in three sets. Mirza then fell in the qualifying at
Eastbourne Eastbourne () is a town and seaside resort in East Sussex, on the south coast of England, east of Brighton and south of London. Eastbourne is immediately east of Beachy Head, the highest chalk sea cliff in Great Britain and part of the la ...
and also lost in the first round of
Wimbledon Wimbledon most often refers to: * Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London * Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships Wimbledon may also refer to: Places London * ...
; however, she did manage to finish runner-up at the GB Pro-Series Wrexham. Her bad form continued, as she lost in the second round of the
Vancouver Open The VanOpen, currently sponsored as Odlum Brown VanOpen, is a professional tennis tournament played on outdoor hardcourts. It is part of the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) Challenger Tour, and of the ITF Women's Circuit. It is h ...
and qualifying rounds of both the
Cincinnati Open The Cincinnati Masters or Cincinnati Open (branded as the Western & Southern Open for sponsorship reasons) is an annual outdoor hardcourt tennis event held in Mason, Ohio near Cincinnati. The event started on September 18, 1899, and is the olde ...
and the
Rogers Cup The Canadian Open (french: Tournoi de tennis du Canada), also known as the Canada Masters, and currently branded as the National Bank Open presented by Rogers for sponsorship reasons, is an annual tennis tournament held in Ontario and Quebec. T ...
. Mirza won her first round match against
Michelle Larcher de Brito Michelle Larcher de Brito (born 29 January 1993) is a Portuguese former professional tennis player. She is the former Portuguese No. 1. Larcher de Brito won four singles titles on the ITF Women's Circuit in her career. On 6 July 2009, she rea ...
at the US Open, but she went down against 20th seeded
Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova Anastasia Sergeyevna "Nastia" Pavlyuchenkova (russian: Анастаси́я "Настя" Серге́евна Павлюче́нкова; born 3 July 1991) is an inactive Russian professional tennis player. A junior prodigy, Pavlyuchenkova won ...
in the second round. In September, Mirza competed in the Guangzhou International Open where she made her first quarterfinal of the season. She then lost in the first round of the
Tashkent Open The Tashkent Open by Zeromax is a women's tennis tournament held in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. Held since 1999, this WTA Tour The WTA Tour is a worldwide top-tier tennis tour for women organized by the Women's Tennis Association. The second-tier tou ...
, in the qualifying draw of the Luxembourg Open, and the first round of the Taipei Ladies Open. In doubles, Mirza won in Guangzhou (with
Edina Gallovits Klaudia Edina Gallovits-Hall (née Gallovits; born December 10, 1984) is a Romanian Americans, Romanian-born American tennis player. Her career-high ranking of No. 54 she achieved on April 28, 2008. She represented Romania until April 2015, then ...
) and finished as a runner-up in Taipei (with
Hsieh Su-wei Hsieh Su-wei ( ;''Xiè 謝淑薇Shūwēi'' in Chinese mainland. Taiwanese Mandarin: ; in Standard Mandarin of Chinese mainland. born 4 January 1986) is an inactive Taiwanese professional tennis player. She has won three singles titles and 30 ...
). In October, she represented India at the 2010 Commonwealth Games as the second seed. She defeated Brittany Teei (
Cook Islands ) , image_map = Cook Islands on the globe (small islands magnified) (Polynesia centered).svg , capital = Avarua , coordinates = , largest_city = Avarua , official_languages = , lan ...
),
Marina Erakovic Marina Erakovic ( ; hr, Marina Eraković ; born 6 March 1988) is a retired tennis player from New Zealand. She achieved career-high rankings of 39 in singles and 25 in doubles, and won one singles title, at Memphis in February 2013, and eigh ...
(New Zealand), and
Olivia Rogowska Olivia Rogowska (; born 7 June 1991) is an Australian former tennis player. Both of her parents are Polish. The right-hander was born in and lives in Melbourne. Her career-high singles ranking is world No. 102, achieved on 11 August 2014. Her ...
(Australia) before losing to Australian
Anastasia Rodionova Anastasia (from el, Ἀναστασία, translit=Anastasía) is a feminine given name of Greek origin, derived from the Greek word (), meaning "resurrection". It is a popular name in Eastern Europe, particularly in Russia, where it was the most ...
in the final. In doubles, she partnered with fellow Indian,
Rushmi Chakravarthi Rushmi Chakravarthi ( te, రుష్మి చక్రవర్తి; born 9 October 1977) is a former professional tennis player from India. She won a record 52 ITF titles, the highest number set by an Indian female player. She turned pro ...
, losing in the semifinals to Anastasia Rodionova and
Sally Peers Sally Peers (born 1 June 1991) is an Australian former professional tennis player. Her career-high singles ranking by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) is 145, which she achieved on 11 April 2011. Her highest doubles ranking of world ...
(Australia). Mirza and Chakravarthi beat compatriots
Poojashree Venkatesha Poojashree Venkatesha (born 27 July 1990) is an Indian former tennis player, primarily competing on the ITF Women's Circuit. She won a silver medal for her native country in the women's singles event at the 2008 Commonwealth Youth Games. ...
and
Nirupama Sanjeev Nirupama Sanjeev ('' née'' Vaidyanathan; born 8 December 1976) is an Indian former professional tennis player. In the 1998 Australian Open, Sanjeev became the second Indian woman (after Nirupama Mankad) in the Open era to feature in a majo ...
to win the bronze medal. In November, she represented India at the
2010 Asian Games The 2010 Asian Games (), officially known as the XVI Asian Games () and also known as Guangzhou 2010 (), was a regional multi-sport event celebrated from November 12 to November 27, 2010 in Guangzhou, Guangdong, China, although several events ...
. The unseeded Indian defeated
Chan Wing-yau Venise Chan (; born 30 May 1989) is a former tennis player from Hong Kong. Chan, who reached No. 1 in Hong Kong and No. 340 in WTA rankings, also played college tennis for the University of Washington. Early life Chan was born in Hong Kong.(2007 ...
in the first round. Next, she defeated sixth seed
Zhang Shuai Zhang Shuai (; ; born 21 January 1989) is a Chinese professional tennis player. She is a two-time Grand Slam champion in women's doubles, having won the 2019 Australian Open and the 2021 US Open, both alongside Samantha Stosur. Zhang als ...
in straight sets to enter into quarterfinal. In the quarterfinal, Mirza won against second seed
Tamarine Tanasugarn Tamarine Tanasugarn ( th, แทมมารีน ธนสุกาญจน์, , ; born 24 May 1977) is a Thai former tennis player. Born in Los Angeles, she turned professional in 1994, and has been in the top 20 in both singles and doubl ...
to move in semifinal, where she was defeated by third seed
Akgul Amanmuradova Akgul Charievna Amanmuradova ( uz, Oqgul Omonmurodova; born June 23, 1984) is a professional tennis player from Uzbekistan. At 1.90 metres in height, she is one of the tallest female tennis players in history. Amanmuradova has won two d ...
and won
bronze medal A bronze medal in sports and other similar areas involving competition is a medal made of bronze awarded to the third-place finisher of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, etc. The outright winner receive ...
in singles. In mixed doubles, she partnered with India's
Vishnu Vardhan Vishnu Vardhan (born 27 July 1987), also known as J. Vishnuvardhan, is a professional tennis player from India. He won bronze medal in men's doubles at 2010 Asian games in Guangzhou, China. He paired-up with and Sania Mirza for mixed doubles an ...
losing in the finals to Chan Yung-jan and
Yang Tsung-hua Yang Tsung-hua (; born March 29, 1991) is a Taiwanese professional tennis player. On the junior circuit, Yang reached a career-high combined ranking of No. 1 in 2008, when he won the French Open singles title against Polish player Jerzy Janowi ...
and won
silver medal A silver medal in sports and other similar areas involving competition is a medal made of, or plated with, silver awarded to the second-place finisher, or runner-up, of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, etc ...
. In December, she went to Dubai to compete at the Al Habtoor Challenge. Coming unseeded, she won the tournament, defeating
Ksenia Pervak Ksenia Yuryevna Pervak (russian: Ксения Юрьевна Первак; born 27 May 1991) is a retired tennis player from Russia. Pervak won one singles title on the WTA Tour, as well as nine singles and three doubles titles on the ITF Circ ...
, top seed Julia Görges and
Evgeniya Rodina Evgeniya Sergeyevna Rodina (russian: Евгения Сергеевна Родина, born 4 February 1989) is a Russian tennis player. On 6 May 2019, she achieved a career-high singles ranking of 67. Rodina has won 13 singles titles on the ITF ...
en route, and second seed
Bojana Jovanovski Bojana may refer to Places * Bojana (river), a river in Albania and Montenegro * Ada Bojana / Bojana Island Name * Bojana (given name), a Slavic given name * People ** Bojana Atanasovska ** Bojana Bobusic ** Bojana Jovanovski ** Bojana Novakovic * ...
in the final. Mirza lost in the early rounds of the
Australian Open The Australian Open is a tennis tournament held annually at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Australia. The tournament is the first of the four Grand Slam tennis events held each year, preceding the French Open, Wimbledon, and the US Open. Th ...
and its warm-up tournaments. Following that, she received wildcards to play in the Dubai Open and the Qatar Open. She made the second rounds of both events, falling to
Ayumi Morita is a Japanese tennis player. She reached her career-high ranking of number 40 in the world in October 2011. At junior level, she reached a combined career-high ranking of world No. 3. Morita is known for strong and consistent two-handed grounds ...
and Jelena Janković, respectively. She also was the quarterfinalist in doubles at both, with
Elena Vesnina Elena Sergeyevna Vesnina (born 1 August 1986) is a Russian former professional tennis player and a former world No. 1 in doubles. She is a four-time Grand Slam champion, having won the 2013 French Open, 2014 US Open, and 2017 Wimbledon Cha ...
. At the Premier Mandatory events in March, Mirza made the second rounds in both. In doubles, she won her first Premier Mandatory title at Indian Wells, with Vesnina, defeating
Bethanie Mattek-Sands Bethanie Mattek-Sands ( Bethanie Lynn Mattek; born March 23, 1985) is an American professional tennis player. She has won nine Grand Slam titles (five in women's doubles and four in mixed doubles), and an Olympic gold medal, and is a former w ...
and
Meghann Shaughnessy Meghann Shaughnessy (born April 13, 1979 in Richmond, Virginia) is an American former professional tennis player. She achieved a career-high singles ranking of world No. 11 in 2001 and won six titles on the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) Tour. ...
. Mirza participated at the Premier-level
Charleston Open The Credit One Charleston Open, formerly known as the Volvo Car Open and the Family Circle Cup, is a WTA Tour-affiliated professional tennis tournament for women, held every year since 1973. It is the oldest professional all-women's tournament in ...
in South Carolina. In singles, she made her first Premier quarterfinal since San Diego in August 2007. In doubles, Mirza won the title with Vesnina: the Indo-Russian duo beat Mattek-Sands and Shaughnessy in the final for the second time this season. Mirza won her 11th WTA Tour doubles title and second of the year. Next, she also competed at the
Madrid Open There are three sporting events known as the Madrid Open: * Madrid Open (golf) The Madrid Open was an annual men's golf tournament which was held in and around the Spanish capital Madrid from 1968 to 2007, apart from a seven-year gap from 1994 to ...
, losing in the first round against doubles partner Elena Vesnina. In doubles, with Vesnina, she managed to go up to the third round. Mirza took part in the Sparta Prague Open, but had to retire in her first round match against
Aleksandra Krunić Aleksandra Krunić ( sr-Cyrl, Александра Крунић; born 15 March 1993) is a Serbian professional tennis player. She has won one singles title and six doubles titles on the WTA Tour along with one singles title on WTA 125 tournament ...
due to a back injury. Next she played at
Strasbourg Strasbourg (, , ; german: Straßburg ; gsw, label=Bas Rhin Alsatian, Strossburi , gsw, label=Haut Rhin Alsatian, Strossburig ) is the prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est region of eastern France and the official seat of the Eu ...
, but suffered a first round lost
Alizé Cornet Alizé Cornet (; born 22 January 1990) is a French professional tennis player. Cornet has won six singles and three doubles titles on the WTA Tour, as well as three singles and three doubles titles on the ITF Circuit. On 16 February 2009, she r ...
. Mirza breezed through the first round of the French Open where she beat
Kristina Barrois Kristina Barrois (born 30 September 1981) is a retired German tennis player. Barrois won 15 singles and 16 doubles titles on the ITF Circuit in her career. On 9 May 2011, she reached her best singles ranking of world No. 57. On 20 February 20 ...
in straight sets. Then in round two, she lost to 12th seed
Agnieszka Radwańska Agnieszka Roma Radwańska (; born 6 March 1989) is a Polish former professional tennis player. She won 20 career singles WTA Tour titles, two doubles titles, and achieved a career-high singles ranking of world No. 2 on 9 July 2012. Her achiev ...
. In doubles, Mirza had what was probably the greatest highlight of her career- reaching the finals of a Grand Slam and she ended up runner-up with Vesnina losing out to
Andrea Hlaváčková Andrea is a given name which is common worldwide for both males and females, cognate to Andreas, Andrej and Andrew. Origin of the name The name derives from the Greek word ἀνήρ (''anēr''), genitive ἀνδρός (''andrós''), that re ...
and
Lucie Hradecká Lucie Hradecká (; born 21 May 1985) is a Czech former professional tennis player. A three-time Grand Slam doubles champion and 26-time WTA Tour doubles titlist, she reached her career-high doubles ranking of world No. 4 in October 2012. She was ...
. During the grass-court season Mirza lost in the first rounds of the singles and doubles competition at
Eastbourne Eastbourne () is a town and seaside resort in East Sussex, on the south coast of England, east of Brighton and south of London. Eastbourne is immediately east of Beachy Head, the highest chalk sea cliff in Great Britain and part of the la ...
. Playing at the
All England Lawn Tennis Club The All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, also known as the All England Club, based at Church Road, Wimbledon, London, England, is a private members' club. It is best known as the venue for the Wimbledon Championships, the only Grand Slam t ...
, she came up with her personal best performance by reaching her first semifinals at
Wimbledon Wimbledon most often refers to: * Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London * Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships Wimbledon may also refer to: Places London * ...
alongside Vesnina losing out to Květa Peschke and Katarina Srebotnik. En route they beat 13th seeds Daniela Hantuchová and Agnieszka Radwańska in the round of 16 and the Spanish duo of
Nuria Llagostera Vives Nuria Llagostera Vives (; born 16 May 1980) is a retired Spanish tennis player. In June 2005, Llagostera Vives reached her best singles ranking of world No. 35. In November 2009, she peaked at No. 5 in the WTA doubles rankings. Professional c ...
and
Arantxa Parra Santonja Arantxa Parra Santonja (; born 9 November 1982) is a Spanish former professional tennis player. She turned pro in 2000 and retired in 2019. In her career, Parra Santonja won eleven doubles titles on the WTA Tour The WTA Tour is a worldwide ...
in the quarterfinal clash. In singles she lost in the first round to
Virginie Razzano Virginie Razzano (born 12 May 1983) is a former French professional tennis player. She won two WTA Tour singles titles, both of them in 2007. Razzano reached her career-high WTA singles ranking of world No. 16 on 14 September 2009. She represe ...
in a close three-setter. She then could not cross the first round hurdles in her next five attempts in singles including the US Open where she lost yet another tight three setter to 23rd seed Shahar Pe'er. On two occasions Mirza scored two wins in qualifying rounds, defeated Heidi El Tabakh at
Rogers Cup The Canadian Open (french: Tournoi de tennis du Canada), also known as the Canada Masters, and currently branded as the National Bank Open presented by Rogers for sponsorship reasons, is an annual tennis tournament held in Ontario and Quebec. T ...
and
Vania King Vania King (born February 3, 1989) is an American former tennis player. A former top-ten doubles player, King won both the Wimbledon and US Open women's doubles titles in 2010 with partner Yaroslava Shvedova, with whom she also reached the f ...
at
Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...
. She, however, continued her good run in doubles competition as she won the title at D.C. partnering
Yaroslava Shvedova Yaroslava Vyacheslavovna Shvedova (; born 12 September 1987) is a Kazakhstani former professional tennis player. Before 2008, she represented her country of birth, Russia. She won one singles title and 13 doubles titles on the WTA Tour, plus o ...
, defeating the second seeded Olga Govortsova and
Alla Kudryavtseva Alla Alexandrovna Kudryavtseva (; born 3 November 1987) is a retired Russian tennis player. Kudryavtseva won one singles title and nine doubles titles on the WTA Tour, as well as two singles titles and 15 doubles titles on the ITF Women's Cir ...
in the final. Partnering Vesnina, Mirza entered the
Southern California Open The Southern California Open currently known as The San Diego Open is an ATP 250 and WTA 500 tournament held at the Barnes Tennis Centre in San Diego, California. The event originated as the Southern California Championships that ran from 1887 ...
but the duo had to withdraw from their first-round match against
Elena Bovina Elena Olegovna Bovina ( rus, link=no, Елена Олеговна Бовина, , ɪ̯ɪˈlʲenə ˈbovʲɪnə; born 10 March 1983) is a former professional tennis player from Russia. She reached a career-high singles ranking of world No. 14 in ...
and
Zheng Jie Zheng Jie (born 5 July 1983) is a retired tennis player from China. In May 2009, she achieved a career-high singles ranking of world No. 15. Zheng is one of the most successful tennis players from China. She won four WTA singles titles – Ho ...
while leading 5–2 in the first set. Playing at Rogers Cup, the pair lost to the future world No. 1, Italian duo of
Sara Errani Sara Errani (; born 29 April 1987) is an Italian professional tennis player. She is a former top five player in singles and former world No. 1 in doubles. With 9 singles titles and 27 doubles titles (including 5 Grand Slam doubles championship ...
and
Roberta Vinci Roberta Vinci (; born 18 February 1983) is an Italian professional padel and former tennis player. In doubles tennis, she won five major tournaments and reached the world No. 1 position. She also reached a career-high ranking of world No. 7 i ...
, in three sets. At
Flushing Meadows Flushing may refer to: Places * Flushing, Cornwall, a village in the United Kingdom * Flushing, Queens, New York City ** Flushing Bay, a bay off the north shore of Queens ** Flushing Chinatown (法拉盛華埠), a community in Queens ** Flushin ...
, Mirza and Vesnina lost in the pre-quarterfinals to the Czech duo of Iveta Melzer and
Barbora Záhlavová-Strýcová Barbora (; ) is a Czech and Slovak female given name. It was derived from the Greek word ''barbaros'' ( el, βαρβαρος) meaning "foreign", a variant of " Barbara". It is the 36th most popular given name in the Czech Republic (as of 2007). ...
, having beaten
Samantha Crawford Samantha Crawford (born February 18, 1995) is a former American tennis player. In her career, Crawford won one singles title and five doubles titles on the ITF Women's Circuit. In July 2016, she reached her best singles ranking of world No. 98. ...
and
Madison Keys Madison Keys (born February 17, 1995) is an American professional tennis player. She has been ranked as high as world No. 7 by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA), a ranking she first achieved in October 2016. Keys has played in one Grand Sla ...
,
Vitalia Diatchenko Vitalia Anatolyevna Diatchenko ( rus, Виталия Анатольевна Дьяченко, , vʲɪˈtalʲɪjə dʲjɪˈtɕenkə, Ru-Vitalia_Diatchenko.ogg; born 2 August 1990) is a Russian professional tennis player. Her career-high singles ...
and
Olga Savchuk Olga Mykolayivna Savchuk ( uk, Ольга Миколаївна Савчук; born 20 September 1987) is a retired tennis player from Ukraine. Savchuk grew up in the city of Makiyivka in Donetsk province. She resides in Nassau, Bahamas. Her best ...
, in straight sets in their previous encounters. After playing on the singles circuit regularly throughout the year, Mirza also re-entered top 60 in singles ranking in 2011. Mirza kicked off her 2012 season ranked 104th in
Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...
. She lost a first qualifying match against
CoCo Vandeweghe Colleen "CoCo" Vandeweghe ( ) (born Colleen Mullarkey; December 6, 1991) is an American professional tennis player. A former Junior US Open champion and top 10 singles player, she has also won two WTA titles, both at the Rosmalen Grass Court C ...
. As for doubles, she partnered Elena Vesnina and made it to the semifinals, losing to Julia Görges and Flavia Pennetta. Her next tournament was in
Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...
where she played doubles only alongside Roberta Vinci, but lost in round one. Going into the
Australian Open The Australian Open is a tennis tournament held annually at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Australia. The tournament is the first of the four Grand Slam tennis events held each year, preceding the French Open, Wimbledon, and the US Open. Th ...
, Mirza was overpowered by
Tsvetana Pironkova Tsvetana Kirilova Pironkova ( bg, Цветана Кирилова Пиронкова ; born 13 September 1987) is a Bulgarian professional tennis player. Considered to be one of the best grass court players of her generation, she has been not ...
in the first round. In doubles, she reached her third Grand Slam semifinal, partnering Vesnina, where they fell to Svetlana Kuznetsova and Vera Zvonareva. For the mixed-doubles event, Mirza played alongside compatriot Mahesh Bhupathi and reached her fourth Grand Slam semifinal. Mirza then represented India at the
Fed Cup The Billie Jean King Cup (or the BJK Cup) is the premier international team competition in women's tennis, launched as the Federation Cup in 1963 to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the International Tennis Federation (ITF). The name was cha ...
in
Shenzhen Shenzhen (; ; ; ), also historically known as Sham Chun, is a major sub-provincial city and one of the special economic zones of China. The city is located on the east bank of the Pearl River estuary on the central coast of southern province ...
, China where they were facing Hong Kong. In singles, she defeated Zhang Ling. Partnering with
Isha Lakhani Isha Lakhani ( hi, ईशा लखानी; 29 April 1985) is an Indian former professional tennis player. Biography Lakhani was born in Mumbai. Her career high in singles is world No. 291, achieved on 19 May 2008. In doubles, she peaked at ...
, the pair beat Chan Wing-yau and Zhang in three sets. With this performance, India advanced to the Fed Cup Asia/Oceania Zone Group I for 2013. Mirza then played at the Pattaya Open where she won her first WTA main draw match since the 2011 French Open – coming from a set down to upset
Ayumi Morita is a Japanese tennis player. She reached her career-high ranking of number 40 in the world in October 2011. At junior level, she reached a combined career-high ranking of world No. 3. Morita is known for strong and consistent two-handed grounds ...
(ranked 47 spots higher). In second round she beat
Anne Keothavong Anne Viensouk Keothavong (born 16 September 1983) is a retired British tennis player. During her career, she won a total of 28 titles on the ITF Women's Circuit, and reached a career-high singles ranking of world No. 48 (achieved on 23 Febru ...
to enter in quarterfinal, where she lost to Hsieh Su-wei. In doubles with Anastasia Rodionova, she won her 13th WTA title: they defeated the Taiwanese sisters
Chan Hao-ching Chan Hao-ching (; ; born September 19, 1993), also known as Angel Chan, is a Taiwanese professional tennis player. She is primarily a doubles specialist, having won 18 WTA, 2 WTA Challenger and 6 ITF titles in that discipline. Chan reached the ...
and Chan Yung-jan. Mirza then went to
Doha Doha ( ar, الدوحة, ad-Dawḥa or ''ad-Dōḥa'') is the capital city and main financial hub of Qatar. Located on the Persian Gulf coast in the east of the country, north of Al Wakrah and south of Al Khor, it is home to most of the coun ...
to play at the Qatar Ladies Open but had to withdraw from the singles qualifying event, due to playing Pattaya doubles final. She lost in the second round of doubles with Elena Vesnina. Then, in
Dubai Dubai (, ; ar, دبي, translit=Dubayy, , ) is the most populous city in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the capital of the Emirate of Dubai, the most populated of the 7 emirates of the United Arab Emirates.The Government and Politics of ...
, she was beaten by
Aleksandra Wozniak Aleksandra Wozniak ( pl, Woźniak; born September 7, 1987) is a Canadian former tennis player. She turned professional in November 2005, and achieved a career-best ranking of No. 21 in June 2009, making her the fifth highest-ranked Canadian singl ...
in the first qualifying round. In doubles, Mirza and Vesnina were runners-up against top seeds
Liezel Huber Liezel Huber (née Horn; born 21 August 1976) is a South African-American retired tennis player who represented the United States internationally since August 2007. Huber has won four Grand Slam titles in women's doubles with partner Cara Blac ...
and Lisa Raymond. Mirza then lost a tough three set encounter to
Eleni Daniilidou Eleni Daniilidou ( el, Ελένη Δανιηλίδου; ; born 19 September 1982) is a Greek former tennis player from the island of Crete. She is considered one of the best Greek tennis players of the Open Era, winning five singles titles and t ...
in round one of the Malaysian Open. Playing doubles at the Premier-line up of Indian Wells,
Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...
and Charleston, Mirza reached the final, lost in round one and made the quarterfinals, respectively. She also reached round two of singles in Indian Wells. She then would begin the European Clay Court Season at
Estoril Estoril () is a town in the Municipality of Cascais, Portugal, on the Portuguese Riviera. It is a tourist destination, with luxury hotels, beaches, and the Casino Estoril. It has been home to numerous royal families and celebrities, and has h ...
, where she was the semifinalist in doubles (with Anastasia Rodionova). She lost in round two of doubles in
Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...
and also in
Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...
. Mirza returned on the singles circuit in May at
Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...
where she won three good matches – including her first 'double bagel' – in the qualifying competition, where she beat
Lesia Tsurenko Lesia Viktorivna Tsurenko ( uk, Леся Вікторівна Цуренко; born 30 May 1989) is a Ukrainian tennis player. Tsurenko has won four singles titles on the WTA Tour, as well as six singles and eight doubles tournaments on the IT ...
, who was ranked 87 spots higher than her. She also won the doubles of the same event with Bethanie Mattek-Sands. She then participated in the French Open in the women's doubles (with Mattek-Sands) and the French Open mixed doubles (with Bhupathi). In the doubles she suffered a first-round shock defeat but found great success in the French Open mixed-doubles where she and Bhupathi won the crown by defeating Santiago González of Mexico and
Klaudia Jans-Ignacik Klaudia Jans-Ignacik (née Jans; born 24 September 1984) is a retired Polish tennis player. On 16 August 2004, she reached her best singles ranking of world No. 410. On 10 September 2012, she peaked at No. 28 in the doubles rankings. Ja ...
of Poland in the final on 7 June 2012. At
Eastbourne Eastbourne () is a town and seaside resort in East Sussex, on the south coast of England, east of Brighton and south of London. Eastbourne is immediately east of Beachy Head, the highest chalk sea cliff in Great Britain and part of the la ...
, Mirza would play the last singles tournament of her career. She defeated
Lisa Whybourn Lisa Whybourn (born 11 May 1991) is an English retired tennis player. She broke into the world top 250 in June 2010 following her run to the final qualifying round at Wimbledon. Whybourn is originally from Hemingford Grey in Huntingdon, Cambr ...
in the qualifying round one, before losing to
Andrea Hlaváčková Andrea is a given name which is common worldwide for both males and females, cognate to Andreas, Andrej and Andrew. Origin of the name The name derives from the Greek word ἀνήρ (''anēr''), genitive ἀνδρός (''andrós''), that re ...
in the next round. Mirza and her partner Shvedova crashed out of the Birmingham Classic with a straight-set defeat by Iveta Benešová and Alla Kudryavtseva. Mirza then would go on to falling in the qualifying singles and first-round doubles at Eastbourne. Mirza and her American partner Mattek-Sands advanced to the third round of the women's doubles competition at
Wimbledon Wimbledon most often refers to: * Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London * Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships Wimbledon may also refer to: Places London * ...
, where they fell to the
Williams sisters The Williams sisters are two professional American tennis players: Venus Williams (b. 1980), a seven-time Grand Slam title winner (singles), and Serena Williams (b. 1981), twenty-three-time Grand Slam title winner (singles), both of whom were c ...
. On 26 June 2012, Mirza was awarded a wildcard entry hence confirming her participation in women's doubles event of the London Olympics. On 17 July 2012, Mirza and her partner Mattek-Sands were ousted in the first round of WTA Premier event in the US. Mirza, partnering Rushmi Chakravarthy in the women's doubles competition at Olympics, bowed out, losing to Chinese Taipei team in a tight match. She also lost in quarterfinals of mixed doubles with
Leander Paes Leander Adrian Paes ( ; born 17 June 1973) is an Indian former professional tennis player. He is regarded as one of the greatest doubles tennis players ever. He holds the record for the most doubles wins in the Davis Cup. Paes won eight men's ...
to Belarus in a tough encounter. At the Premier Mandatory events of Montréal and Cincinnati, partnering Mattek-Sands, Mirza reached the quarterfinals and lost in round one of doubles, respectively. In October 2012 the prize purse for female winners of the "Fenesta Open National Tennis Championship" was increased to be equal to that of male winners at Mirza's suggestion to All India Tennis Association president Anil Khanna. Khanna also announced that "From now on we will see to it that all national tournaments have the same prize money for both categories women and men."


2013–2014: Top 5 doubles breakthrough

Mirza kicked off her 2013 season with a title
Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the states and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland, and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a populati ...
alongside Bethanie Mattek-Sands in the first tournament itself. The pair then unexpectedly lost in the first round of
Australian Open The Australian Open is a tennis tournament held annually at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Australia. The tournament is the first of the four Grand Slam tennis events held each year, preceding the French Open, Wimbledon, and the US Open. Th ...
, Mirza though reached the quarterfinals of the 2013 Australian Open
mixed doubles Mixed doubles or mixed pairs is a form of mixed-sex sports that consists of teams of one man and one woman. This variation of competition is prominent in curling and racket sports, such as tennis, table tennis and badminton (where it is known as ...
partnering
Bob Bryan Robert Charles Bryan (born April 29, 1978) is an American former doubles world No. 1 tennis player. He has won twenty-three Grand Slam titles: 16 in men's doubles and 7 in mixed doubles. He turned professional in 1998. With his twin ...
. Mattek-Sands and Mirza then won the doubles title at the Dubai Tennis Championships in February. They had to retire in their round of 16 match at the French Open after having won the first set against
Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova Anastasia Sergeyevna "Nastia" Pavlyuchenkova (russian: Анастаси́я "Настя" Серге́евна Павлюче́нкова; born 3 July 1991) is an inactive Russian professional tennis player. A junior prodigy, Pavlyuchenkova won ...
and
Lucie Šafářová Lucie Šafářová (; born 4 February 1987) is a Czech former professional tennis player who was ranked world No. 1 in doubles, and No. 5 in singles. She is a five-time Grand Slam champion in doubles, having won the 2015 Australian Open, 2015 ...
. They also lost in the round of 16 at Wimbledon. Mirza then formed a brief successful partnership with Zheng Jie from China winning a title at
New Haven New Haven is a city in the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is located on New Haven Harbor on the northern shore of Long Island Sound in New Haven County, Connecticut and is part of the New York City metropolitan area. With a population of 134,02 ...
and reaching the semis at US Open losing out to Australians
Casey Dellacqua Casey Dellacqua ( ; born 11 February 1985) is a retired Australian professional tennis player and current commentator. Her best singles results on the WTA Tour have been semifinal appearances at the 2012 Texas Tennis Open and 2014 Birmingham ...
and
Ashleigh Barty Ashleigh is the feminine form of the Old English name Ashley (given name), Ashley, which means "dweller near the ash tree forest". It is most common in the United States and United Kingdom. Notable people B *Ashleigh Ball (born 1983), Canadian ...
. Mirza then partnered
Cara Black Cara Cavell Black (born 17 February 1979) is a Zimbabwean former professional tennis player. Black was primarily a doubles specialist, winning 60 WTA Tour and 11 ITF doubles titles. A former doubles world No. 1, she won ten major titles. By ...
for the rest of the season and the pair won their first title in their first outing at Tokyo. They won their second title in a row as they lifted the China Open trophy defeating top seeds and world-number-ones, Sara Errani and Roberta Vinci, en route. Mirza partnered different players during 2013 and won five WTA titles. Mirza began 2014 playing with Cara Black in the Sydney International where they lost in the first round to
Ajla Tomljanović Ajla Tomljanović ( ; ; born 7 May 1993) is an Australian professional tennis player. She has won four singles and three doubles titles on the ITF Circuit. On 31 October 2022, she reached a career-high singles ranking of world No. 33. On 5 Janu ...
and
Jarmila Gajdošová Jarmila Wolfe (née Gajdošová, formerly Groth; born 26 April 1987) is a Slovak-Australian former tennis player. In her career, she won two singles titles and one doubles title on the WTA Tour, as well as 14 singles and ten doubles titles on ...
. Her next tournament was the
Australian Open The Australian Open is a tennis tournament held annually at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Australia. The tournament is the first of the four Grand Slam tennis events held each year, preceding the French Open, Wimbledon, and the US Open. Th ...
. Seeded sixth, Mirza and Black reached the quarterfinals at the 2014 Australian Open – Women's doubles before losing to top seeds and eventual champions Errani and Vinci. She was more successful in the mixed doubles event, reaching the final partnering
Horia Tecău Horia Tecău (; born January 19, 1985) is a Romanian former professional tennis player who specialised in doubles. He is a three-time Grand Slam champion, having won the 2015 Wimbledon Championships and 2017 US Open alongside Jean-Julien Roje ...
of Romania. Tecău and Mirza lost to
Kristina Mladenovic Kristina "Kiki" Mladenovic (; sr, Кристина "Кики" Младеновић, Kristina "Kiki" Mladenović, ; born 14 May 1993) is a French professional tennis player and a former world No. 1 in doubles. She is a nine-time Grand Slam ch ...
and
Daniel Nestor Daniel Mark Nestor ( ; sr, Данијел Нестор, Danijel Nestor; born September 4, 1972) is a Canadian former professional tennis player. Nestor won 91 men's doubles titles (with 11 different partners), including an Olympic gold medal ...
in the final. Mirza and Black next competed in the Qatar Open and lost to the pairing of Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova and Nadia Petrova in the quarterfinals. The pair lost in the first round of the Dubai Championships to Andrea Hlaváčková and
Lucie Šafářová Lucie Šafářová (; born 4 February 1987) is a Czech former professional tennis player who was ranked world No. 1 in doubles, and No. 5 in singles. She is a five-time Grand Slam champion in doubles, having won the 2015 Australian Open, 2015 ...
. They reached their first WTA Tour doubles final of the year at the Indian Wells Open but lost to Hsieh Su-wei and Peng Shuai. Mirza and Black reached the semifinals of the Miami Open, before losing to wildcards Martina Hingis and Sabine Lisicki. They finished runners-up to Errani and Vinci once again in the
Porsche Tennis Grand Prix The Stuttgart Open, also known by its sponsored name Porsche Tennis Grand Prix, is a women's tennis tournament held in Stuttgart, Germany (until 2005, in Filderstadt, a southern suburb of Stuttgart). Held since 1978, the tournament is the oldest w ...
. They won their first title of the year at the 2014 Portugal Open, defeating
Eva Hrdinová Eva Hrdinová (born 15 June 1984) is a Czech former tennis player. In her career, Hrdinová won three singles and 19 doubles titles on the ITF Circuit. On 14 April 2008, she reached her best singles ranking of world No. 168. On 18 August 2008, ...
and
Valeria Solovyeva Valeriya Alexandrovna Solovyeva (russian: Валерия Александровна Соловьёва; born 3 November 1992) is Russian former professional tennis player. Solovyeva has won two doubles titles on the WTA Tour, as well as three s ...
in the final. Mirza and Black recorded three consecutive quarterfinal finishes in the subsequent clay tournaments, namely the
Madrid Open There are three sporting events known as the Madrid Open: * Madrid Open (golf) The Madrid Open was an annual men's golf tournament which was held in and around the Spanish capital Madrid from 1968 to 2007, apart from a seven-year gap from 1994 to ...
, the Italian Open, and the
French Open The French Open (french: Internationaux de France de tennis), also known as Roland-Garros (), is a major tennis tournament held over two weeks at the Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France, beginning in late May each year. The tournament and ven ...
. In the mixed doubles event at the 2014 French Open, Mirza and Horia Tecău lost in the second round to Tímea Babos and
Eric Butorac Eric Butorac (born May 22, 1981), nicknamed Booty, is an American retired professional tennis player. He was a doubles specialist, and for a period of approximately six years was the No. 3 ranked American doubles player. His best result was reac ...
. Mirza began grass-court season playing in Birmingham. She and Black lost to
Raquel Kops-Jones Raquel Atawo (née Kops-Jones; born December 8, 1982) is an American former professional tennis player, who is currently the head woman's tennis coach for the Washington State Cougars. She is primarily a doubles specialist, winning 18 WTA doubl ...
and
Abigail Spears Abigail Michal Spears (born July 12, 1981) is a former professional tennis player from the United States. She was suspended for doping offences from 7 November 2019 until 7 September 2021. Biography 2000–2011 Spears turned professional in ...
in the semifinals. At the
Eastbourne International The Eastbourne International is a tennis tournament on the WTA Tour and the ATP Tour held at the Devonshire Park Lawn Tennis Club, Eastbourne, United Kingdom. Held since 1974, it is classified as a WTA 500 series on the WTA Tour and an ATP Tour 2 ...
, they reached the quarterfinals before losing to Chan Hao-ching and Chan Yung-jan. The pair next competed at the
Wimbledon Championships The Wimbledon Championships, commonly known simply as Wimbledon, is the oldest tennis tournament in the world and is widely regarded as the most prestigious. It has been held at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, All England Club in ...
and lost in the second round to the unseeded pairing of Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova and Lucie Šafářová. Mirza and Black next competed in the 2014 US Open and lost to the pairing of Martina Hingis and Flavia Pennetta in the semifinals. Mirza played the mixed doubles in the US Open pairing with
Bruno Soares Bruno Fraga Soares (; born 27 February 1982) is a Brazilian former professional tennis player who specialises in doubles. A doubles specialist, Soares won six major titles, the Australian Open and US Open in 2016 alongside Jamie Murray, and ...
and went on to become the 2014 US Open mixed-doubles champions, thereby winning the third mixed doubles Grand Slam in her career. Sania won a gold and bronze at the 17th Asian Games in Incheon, South Korea. She paired with
Saketh Myneni Saketh Myneni (born 19 October 1987) is an Indian professional tennis player. He is conferred with the prestigious Arjuna Award in 2017 and represents India in the Davis Cup. He won a gold medal in Mixed doubles and a silver medal in Men's do ...
to beat China's Hsien Yin Peng and Chan Hao-ching and win gold in the mixed doubles tournament. She also won a bronze medal in women's doubles tournament, where she paired with
Prarthana Thombare Prarthana Gulabrao Thombare (born 18 June 1994) is an Indian tennis player. A doubles specialist, she is the former Indian number one in women's doubles, and an Olympian. Thombare has won three singles and 25 doubles titles on the ITF Circuit. ...
. Black and Mirza won their biggest title together at the
WTA Finals The WTA Finals (formerly known as the WTA Tour Championships or WTA Championships) is a tournament of the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) played annually at the end of the season. The event is uniquely reserved for players at the top of the WTA ...
defeating Hsieh Su-wei and Peng Shuai in the final It was the heaviest defeat ever witnessed in the end-of-season competition's doubles final which dates back 41 years to 1973, the year the WTA was founded. Black and Mirza survived matchpoints in both their previous encounters against
Květa Peschke Květoslava Peschke (née Hrdličková; born 9 July 1975) is a Czech retired professional tennis player who was ranked world No. 1 in doubles. She reached a career-high singles ranking of No. 26 in November 2005, winning one WTA singles title ...
/
Katarina Srebotnik Katarina Srebotnik (born 12 March 1981) is a Slovenian retired professional tennis player. She reached her career-high singles ranking of world No. 20 on 7 August 2006. On 4 July 2011, she reached No. 1 of the WTA doubles rankings, holding this ...
and Raquel Kops-Jones/Abigail Spears coming through in third set tiebreaks. This final would be the duo's final match as a team. "It was great – we saved the best for the last. I think today was our best match. One of our best matches at least, and one of our best matches we played against them." Mirza told reporters after the win. "To end this way, we couldn't have asked for a better start or end. It kind of sums up our partnership", she added. She added that Black was her great friend "But I've also found a great friend in her. Almost like an older sister to me. I'm the oldest in my family, so I learned a lot from her on and off the court." Mirza participated in the
International Premier Tennis League The International Premier Tennis League (IPTL, officially the Coca-Cola International Premier Tennis League Presented by Qatar Airways pursuant to sponsorship agreements with The Coca-Cola Company and Qatar Airways) was an annual team tennis leagu ...
starting on 28 November 2014, playing with the Micromax Indian Aces alongside tennis legend
Roger Federer Roger Federer (; born 8 August 1981) is a Swiss former professional tennis player. He was ranked List of ATP number 1 ranked singles tennis players#Weeks at No. 1, world No. 1 by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) for 310 weeks, in ...
, countryman
Rohan Bopanna Rohan Bopanna ( ; born 4 March 1980) is an Indian professional tennis player. His singles career-high ranking was world No. 213 in 2007 and his career-high ranking in doubles was world No. 3 on 22 July 2013. He has been a member of the Indian ...
, Ana Ivanovic and
Gaël Monfils Gaël Sébastien Monfils (; born 1 September 1986) is a French professional tennis player. He has been ATP rankings, ranked as high as world No. 6 in singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), which he achieved in November 2016. H ...
. She played all the mixed-doubles matches alongside Bopanna and partnered Federer who visited the country for his first match there in the
New Delhi New Delhi (, , ''Naī Dillī'') is the capital of India and a part of the National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, Parliament House ...
leg, much to her personal and fans' delight. Mirza won the majority of her matches and played a key role for the Indian Aces to win the inaugural edition of the IPTL 2014.


2015–2016: Rise to world No. 1 and women's doubles major titles

Mirza began her 2015 season ranked No. 6 in the doubles rankings. She started a new partnership with then world No. 5, Hsieh Su-wei from Chinese Taipei, after Cara Black decided to go for a limited 2015 season. The pair started their season at the 2015 Brisbane International as the top seeds and reached the semifinals losing out to fourth seeds
Caroline Garcia Caroline Garcia (, born 16 October 1993) is a French professional tennis player. She has been ranked in the top 5 in both singles at world No. 4 and in doubles at world No. 2. Garcia is the 2022 WTA Finals singles champion. She is also a two- ...
and Katarina Srebotnik in the super tie-breaker after having won the first set. Mirza paired up with former partner and good friend Bethanie Mattek-Sands for the Sydney International and went on to win the tournament for her 23rd career title (fifth with Mattek-Sands) beating the highly fancied second seeds Martina Hingis and Flavia Pennetta in the quarterfinals and top-seeds Raquel Kops-Jones and Abigail Spears in the finals, but lost in the second round at
Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...
. She also re-entered the top 5 in the rankings. Mirza also reached the finals of Qatar Ladies Open at Doha alongside Hsieh. The pair lost to Americans Raquel Kops-Jones and Abigail Spears. Mirza then ended her partnership with Hsieh and paired up with Swiss legend Martina Hingis. The pair entered Indian Wells as the top seeds and went on to win the titles in their debut. They beat opponents including former world number ones Lisa Raymond and Sam Stosur. Hingis and Mirza didn't lose more than four games in any set. After cruising through the first set of the final, they fell behind in the second set but won the next four games to beat second seeds Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina in straight sets. They also won the Miami masters event, again beating the same opponents. Mirza jumped two places on the ranking table to be ranked at her career best No. 3 in the doubles rankings. The duo then entered the Miami Open and went to beat the same opponents in the finals making it their second title in as many tournaments. The pair did not lose a single set at the tournament, making the set score 20–0 for their newly formed partnership. Before reaching the finals at Miami the pair beat Elena Bogdan and
Nicole Melichar Nicole Melichar-Martinez (née Melichar; cz, Nicole Melicharová, ) is an American tennis player who specializes in doubles. She has won twelve doubles titles on the WTA Tour and one WTA 125 doubles title as well as two singles and seven double ...
,
Gabriela Dabrowski Gabriela "Gaby" Dabrowski (; pl, Dąbrowska, ; born April 1, 1992) is a Canadian professional tennis player. She reached her best singles ranking of world No. 164 by the WTA on November 3, 2014 and her highest doubles ranking of world No. 4 on ...
and
Alicja Rosolska Alicja Rosolska (; born 1 December 1985) is a professional tennis player from Poland. On 9 June 2003, she reached her best singles ranking of world No. 636. On 10 June 2019, she peaked at No. 23 in the doubles rankings. Rosolska has won nine ...
, Anastasia Rodionova and
Arina Rodionova Arina Ivanovna Rodionova (russian: Арина Ивановна Родионова; born 15 December 1989) is a Russian-born Australian tennis player. Rodionova has won nine singles and 42 doubles titles on the ITF Women's Circuit. In 2007, ...
, and seventh seeds
Tímea Babos Tímea Babos (; born 10 May 1993) is a Hungarian professional tennis player who is a former world No. 1 in doubles. She is a four-time Grand Slam champion in women's doubles, having won the 2018 and 2020 Australian Opens, as well as the Fre ...
and Kristina Mladenovic. They overcame Vesnina and Makarova in the finals in straight sets. Mirza and Hingis won
Family Circle Cup The Credit One Charleston Open, formerly known as the Volvo Car Open and the Family Circle Cup, is a WTA Tour-affiliated professional tennis tournament for women, held every year since 1973. It is the oldest professional all-women's tournament in ...
's double title in April 2015 defeating Casey Dellacqua and
Darija Jurak Darija Jurak Schreiber (née Jurak; ; born 5 April 1984) is a Croatian professional tennis player. Her career-high doubles ranking is world No. 9, achieved on 15 November 2021. Her best WTA ranking in singles of 188 she reached in April 2004. ...
and with the title win Mirza became the first Indian to be ranked world No. 1 in WTA's doubles rankings. It was Mirza and Hingis' third successive title win and they have not lost as a single match since joining forces, winning 14 matches in a row. "It's a dream for every kid to be No. 1 one day." Mirza said after her win. And on reaching No. 1 in Charleston she added "No tournament has been as special to me as the Family Circle Cup and no tournament will ever be as special to me, because I became No. 1 here." They were routed in the first round at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix. They reached the finals of Italian Open but lost to the team of Tímea Babos and Kristina Mladenovic. They lost in the quarterfinals of
French Open The French Open (french: Internationaux de France de tennis), also known as Roland-Garros (), is a major tennis tournament held over two weeks at the Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France, beginning in late May each year. The tournament and ven ...
to Mattek-Sands and Šafářová where the duo were the top seeds. Mirza was also given the top seeding with her partner Bruno Soares in the
mixed doubles Mixed doubles or mixed pairs is a form of mixed-sex sports that consists of teams of one man and one woman. This variation of competition is prominent in curling and racket sports, such as tennis, table tennis and badminton (where it is known as ...
event. In spite of this, the pair lost in just 56 minutes against the unseeded
Anna-Lena Grönefeld Anna-Lena Grönefeld (also spelled Groenefeld; born 4 June 1985) is a German former professional tennis player. Competing as a professional from 2003 until 2019, she won one singles title on the WTA Tour, at the 2006 Mexican Open, and reached t ...
and
Jean-Julien Rojer Jean-Julien Rojer (; ; born 25 August 1981) is a Dutch professional tennis player from Curaçao, who specialises in doubles. He reached his career-high doubles ranking of world No. 3 in November 2015. He is a four-time Grand Slam champion, hav ...
in the first round. For the grass-court season, Mirza was seeded No. 1 in the
Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...
Premier level event and partnered with Casey Dellacqua. However, the team crashed out of the WTA event following a straight-set defeat in Birmingham on 18 June 2015. They lost to unseeded pair of Zheng Jie and Chan Yung-jan in the opening round. Mirza and Hingis were beaten in the semifinals at the WTA
Aegon International The Eastbourne International is a tennis tournament on the WTA Tour and the ATP Tour held at the Devonshire Park Lawn Tennis Club, Eastbourne, United Kingdom. Held since 1974, it is classified as a WTA 500 series on the WTA Tour and an ATP Tour ...
doubles in Eastbourne. The top seeds lost to the fourth seeded French-Slovak combine of Caroline Garcia and Katarina Srebotnik in 81 minutes. Mirza and Hingis won the
Wimbledon Championships The Wimbledon Championships, commonly known simply as Wimbledon, is the oldest tennis tournament in the world and is widely regarded as the most prestigious. It has been held at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, All England Club in ...
, defeating Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina in three tough sets in the final. After splitting two very close sets against two-time Grand Slam champions Makarova and Vesnina, Hingis and Mirza – who were playing just their second Grand Slam together – fell behind in the third set were a game away from going out. But a fierce rally saw them draw level at 5-all, and after a half hour break for the Centre Court roof to be closed due to fading light, the No. 1-seeded Swiss-Indian duo came out stronger, breaking the No. 2-seeded Russians one last time and then serving it out for a gritty victory. The win gave Mirza her first Grand Slam title in Women's Doubles and Hingis her tenth. En route to the final, the pair did not lose a single set against any of their opponents. In the opening two rounds the duo beat unseeded opponents,
Zarina Diyas Zarina Diyas ( kk, Зари́на Ди́ас; born 18 October 1993) is a Kazakh professional tennis player. She has been ranked as high as No. 31 in the world by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA). Diyas has won one WTA singles title, at the ...
and
Zheng Saisai Zheng Saisai or Zheng Sai-Sai (; born February 5, 1994) is a Chinese tennis player. She won one WTA singles title (at the Premier level 2019 Silicon Valley Classic), five WTA doubles titles, and reached the final of the 2019 French Open in dou ...
and veteran Japanese-Italian combine of
Kimiko Date-Krumm is a Japanese former professional tennis player. She reached the semifinals of the 1994 Australian Open, the 1995 French Open and the 1996 Wimbledon Championships, and won the Japan Open a record four times. She reached a career-high ranking ...
and Francesca Schiavone. 16th seeded Spaniard duo of
Anabel Medina Garrigues Ana Isabel Medina Garrigues (, ; born 31 July 1982) is a Spanish tennis coach and former professional player. As a player she reached a career-high ranking of world No. 16 in 2020, and won 11 singles and 28 doubles titles, including the 2008 ...
and
Arantxa Parra Santonja Arantxa Parra Santonja (; born 9 November 1982) is a Spanish former professional tennis player. She turned pro in 2000 and retired in 2019. In her career, Parra Santonja won eleven doubles titles on the WTA Tour The WTA Tour is a worldwide ...
beating them in the third round, ninth seeds Casey Dellacqua and Yaroslava Shvedova in the quarter finals, and dominated fifth seeded Kops-Jones and Spears (who beat them earlier) in the semifinals before finally overcoming Vesnina and Makarova in the marathon final. With the win Mirza and Hingis also regain the top spot in 2015 Road to Singapore standings trading spots with Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Lucie Šafářová and became the first team to qualify for
WTA Finals The WTA Finals (formerly known as the WTA Tour Championships or WTA Championships) is a tournament of the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) played annually at the end of the season. The event is uniquely reserved for players at the top of the WTA ...
. The pair reached two consecutive finals at the
Rogers Cup The Canadian Open (french: Tournoi de tennis du Canada), also known as the Canada Masters, and currently branded as the National Bank Open presented by Rogers for sponsorship reasons, is an annual tennis tournament held in Ontario and Quebec. T ...
and Western & Southern Open losing out to Caroline Garcia, Katarina Srebotnik and Chan Hao-ching, Chan Yung-jan, respectively. At the US Open the pair entered the tournament as the top seed and went on to win the title defeating Casey Dellacqua and Yaroslava Shvedova in the finals. They did not lose a set throughout the fortnight defeating seeded opponents
Michaëlla Krajicek Michaëlla Krajicek ( cz, Michaela Krajíčková; born 9 January 1989) is a Dutch former tennis player. She won three singles and five doubles titles on the WTA Tour, as well as one WTA 125 doubles title, and 14 singles and 22 doubles titles on ...
, Barbora Strýcová, Chan sisters, Sara Errani, Flavia Pennetta. This was the pair's second straight Grand Slam title after
Wimbledon Wimbledon most often refers to: * Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London * Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships Wimbledon may also refer to: Places London * ...
. Their undefeated run continued through the rest of the year with titles at
Guangzhou International Women's Open The Guangzhou International Women's Open is a tennis tournament held in Guangzhou, People's Republic of China. Held since 2004, the inaugural tournament had Li Na Li Na (born 26 February 1982) is a Chinese former professional tennis player. ...
and Premier-level tournament
2015 Wuhan Open The 2015 Wuhan Open (also known as 2015 Dongfeng Motor Wuhan Open for sponsorship reasons) was a women's tennis tournament played on outdoor hard courts between September 27 and October 3, 2015. It was part of the WTA Premier 5 tournaments of the ...
, and Premier Mandatory China Open defeating Xu Shilin and You Xiaodi, Irina-Camelia Begu and
Monica Niculescu Monica Niculescu (born 25 September 1987) is a Romanian professional tennis player. She has been ranked by the Women's Tennis Association as high as 28 in singles and 11 in doubles. Niculescu has won several titles: three singles and ten double ...
, Chan sisters again, respectively. The pair then entered 2015 WTA Finals as heavy favourites and the top seeds and lived up to the expectations as they did not lose a single set en route to the title at the Premier Event. This was Mirza's second straight title at the Finals and she remains undefeated at the year ending tournament. The pair of Hingis-Mirza topped their group and beat the Chan's in the semi-finals and
Garbiñe Muguruza Garbiñe Muguruza Blanco (; born 8 October 1993) is a Spanish-Venezuelan professional tennis player. She has a career-high singles ranking of world No. 1 by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA), and a career-high doubles ranking of world No. ...
and
Carla Suárez Navarro Carla Suárez Navarro (; born 3 September 1988, in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria) is a Spanish former professional tennis player. A former top 10 singles player, she reached a career-high singles ranking of world No. 6 on 29 February 2016, and a b ...
in the finals to win the title. The pair thus ended the year with a 22 match winning streak and Mirza secured the year ending No. 1 ranking and wrapped up her 2015 season with ten WTA titles including two Grand Slams. Mirza and Hingis kicked off their
2016 WTA Tour The 2016 WTA Tour was the elite professional tennis circuit organised by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) for the 2016 tennis season. The 2016 WTA Tour calendar comprises the Grand Slam tournaments (supervised by the International Tennis Fe ...
in Australia by winning the tournaments in Brisbane and Sydney. In the
Australian Open The Australian Open is a tennis tournament held annually at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Australia. The tournament is the first of the four Grand Slam tennis events held each year, preceding the French Open, Wimbledon, and the US Open. Th ...
they were seeded first and won the Doubles title which is Mirza's third Grand Slam title. Mirza and Hingis then proceeded to the inaugural St. Petersburg Trophy and won the title there, defeating Dushevina/ Krejčíková in the final. They next played at the Qatar Open, where they suffered a shock loss to
Daria Kasatkina Daria Sergeyevna Kasatkina (born 7 May 1997) is a Russian professional tennis player. She is currently the Russian No. 1 player in singles. She made her top-ten debut in the WTA rankings towards the end of the 2018 season and has been ranked ...
/Elena Vesnina. That loss ended Hingis and Mirza's 41 match winning streak. They then played the Indian Wells Open, where they played their first tournament together, and surprisingly lost their second-round match against
Vania King Vania King (born February 3, 1989) is an American former tennis player. A former top-ten doubles player, King won both the Wimbledon and US Open women's doubles titles in 2010 with partner Yaroslava Shvedova, with whom she also reached the f ...
/
Alla Kudryavtseva Alla Alexandrovna Kudryavtseva (; born 3 November 1987) is a retired Russian tennis player. Kudryavtseva won one singles title and nine doubles titles on the WTA Tour, as well as two singles titles and 15 doubles titles on the ITF Women's Cir ...
. At the Miami Open, Mirza and Hingis again lost in the second round to
Margarita Gasparyan Margarita Melikovna Betova (née Gasparyan; rus, Маргари́та Ме́ликовна Гаспаря́н, , mərɡɐˈrʲitə ɡəspɐˈrʲan, Ru-Margarita Gasparyan.ogg, hy, Մարգարիտա Մելիքի Գասպարյան; born 1 Sept ...
and Monica Niculescu. After losing three out of last five matches, Mirza and Hingis took a break and did not play in the
Charleston Open The Credit One Charleston Open, formerly known as the Volvo Car Open and the Family Circle Cup, is a WTA Tour-affiliated professional tennis tournament for women, held every year since 1973. It is the oldest professional all-women's tournament in ...
, where they were the defending champions. Mirza and Hingis started their clay season by reaching the finals of Porsche Grand Prix and Madrid Open, where they eventually lost to Kristina Mladenovic and Caroline Garcia in both the tournaments. They, however, managed to reach and win their third consecutive clay-court final in Internazionali d'Italia, by defeating Makarova and Vesnina in the deciding tie-breaker.


2017–2018: Split with Hingis, maternity leave

In August 2016, Mirza and Hingis announced their mutual decision to split as a team, citing their last few under-par performances, with the 2016 WTA Finals in Singapore being their last event together. Mirza partnered with
Barbora Strýcová Barbora Strýcová (; born 28 March 1986), formerly known as Barbora Záhlavová-Strýcová, is a Czech former professional tennis player who was ranked world No. 1 in doubles. She won her first Grand Slam title at the 2019 Wimbledon Champion ...
in late 2016 (winning two titles) and some parts of the 2017 season. In 2017, her sole title came at
Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the states and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland, and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a populati ...
, where she played alongside her friend Mattek-Sands. However, Mirza struggled to find a committed partner to play with in the 2017 season, which resulted in her falling out of the top 5. The last tournament she played was the China Open, where she lost in the semifinals partnering Peng Shuai. Mirza missed the first few tournaments of the 2018 season, including the
Australian Open The Australian Open is a tennis tournament held annually at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Australia. The tournament is the first of the four Grand Slam tennis events held each year, preceding the French Open, Wimbledon, and the US Open. Th ...
, citing a knee injury she sustained in October 2017. In early February 2018, Mirza said the same injury would keep her out of competition for a further two months. In April, Mirza announced on
Instagram Instagram is a photo and video sharing social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. The app allows users to upload media that can be edited with filters and organized by hashtags and geographical tagging. Posts can ...
that she was pregnant with her first child, with husband Shoaib Malik. In late October, Mirza had delivered a baby boy.


2020: Winning return

In late 2018, Mirza announced she hoped to return to professional tennis in time for the
2020 Summer Olympics The , officially the and also known as , was an international multi-sport event held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some preliminary events that began on 21 July. Tokyo was selected as the host city during the ...
. After having celebrated her son's first birthday and having spent more than two years off the professional circuit, she returned to the tour at the 2020 Hobart International – Doubles, Hobart International in January 2020 playing alongside Nadiia Kichenok. The newly formed team won the tournament beating second seeds Peng Shuai/
Zhang Shuai Zhang Shuai (; ; born 21 January 1989) is a Chinese professional tennis player. She is a two-time Grand Slam champion in women's doubles, having won the 2019 Australian Open and the 2021 US Open, both alongside Samantha Stosur. Zhang als ...
in the final. However, the team lost their first round match at the 2020 Australian Open because of a calf injury suffered by Mirza. She played at the
2020 Summer Olympics The , officially the and also known as , was an international multi-sport event held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some preliminary events that began on 21 July. Tokyo was selected as the host city during the ...
with Ankita Raina, but lost to Ukrainian Pair of Lyudmyla Kichenok and Nadiia Kichenok in the first round. This was Mirza's third consecutive first round exit in women's doubles event at the Olympics.


2022: French Open third round, three WTA 1000 semifinals, back to top 25

She reached the semifinals at the WTA 1000 2022 Qatar Total Open, Qatar Open and the 2022 Italian Open (tennis), Italian Open as well as the 2022 French Open, French Open third round, partnering Lucie Hradecká. At the 2022 National Bank Open, Canadian Open, she reached the quarterfinals of a WTA 1000 level partnering
Madison Keys Madison Keys (born February 17, 1995) is an American professional tennis player. She has been ranked as high as world No. 7 by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA), a ranking she first achieved in October 2016. Keys has played in one Grand Sla ...
where they defeated top seeds Elise Mertens and Veronika Kudermetova. Next they defeated Sofia Kenin and Yulia Putintseva to reach the semifinals.


Playing style

Mirza is an Tennis strategy, offensive baseliner with very powerful groundstroke and is known for setting up good attacks with the sheer velocity of her groundstrokes. Her main strength is her forehand, as well as her volleying skills. Her power game has drawn comparisons to Romanian legend Ilie Năstase. She is also a great returner of serve finding many return winners during matches. Mirza goes for winners, which means she goes for many angles. Mirza has said that "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". "I'm not that fast on my feet", she added as her most evident weakness is her movement around the court, where Mirza usually struggles moving up and around the court. Mirza's second serve and relatively poor mobility are often quoted as her big weaknesses. But by 2012, a series of injuries had effectively ended her singles career.


Awards and recognition

* Arjuna Award (2004) *
WTA Newcomer of the Year This article lists the WTA Awards given by the Women's Tennis Association to players and coaches for achievements during a season or their careers. Player of the Year Doubles Team of the Year Most Improved Player Newcomer of the Yea ...
(2005) * Padma Shri (2006) * Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna (2015) * BBC list of 100 Women (BBC), 100 inspiring women (2015) * Padma Bhushan (2016) * NRI of the Year (2016) In the year 2014, the government of Telangana appointed Sania Mirza as the brand ambassador of the state. Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrashekhar Rao congratulated Sania Mirza on her being awarded Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award. She was named in the Time (magazine), Time magazine's 2016 list of 100 most influential people in the world.


Personal life

In 2009, Sania Mirza became engaged to Sohrab Mirza. However, the wedding was called off shortly after. On 12 April 2010, she married Shoaib Malik in a traditional Marriage in Islam, Hyderabadi Muslim wedding ceremony at the Taj Krishna Hotel in Hyderabad, India followed by Marriage in Pakistan, Pakistani wedding customs for a mahr of 6.1 million (US$137,500). Their Walima ceremony was held in Sialkot, Pakistan. The couple announced their first pregnancy on social media on 23 April 2018. In October 2018, Shoaib Malik announced on Twitter that Mirza had delivered a baby boy and named him Izhaan Mirza Malik. She got divorced in 2022.


Other activities

In 2014, Mirza was the brand ambassador for the States and union territories of India, Indian state of Telangana to promote the interests of the then newly created state. Mirza has established a tennis academy in
Hyderabad Hyderabad ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana and the ''de jure'' capital of Andhra Pradesh. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River (India), Musi River, in the northern part ...
. Former world No. 1s and multiple Grand Slam winners
Cara Black Cara Cavell Black (born 17 February 1979) is a Zimbabwean former professional tennis player. Black was primarily a doubles specialist, winning 60 WTA Tour and 11 ITF doubles titles. A former doubles world No. 1, she won ten major titles. By ...
and Martina Navratilova have both visited the academy on different occasions. Sania Mirza was announced the ''UN Women Goodwill Ambassador for South Asia''. She is the first South Asian woman to be appointed as a Goodwill Ambassador in the organization's history.


Controversies

In 2006, some newspapers reported that Mirza declined to play doubles with Israeli tennis player
Shahar Pe'er Shahar Pe'er ( he, שחר פאר, ; born ) is an Israeli retired tennis player. Pe'er won five singles and three doubles titles on the WTA Tour, as well as four singles and three doubles titles on the ITF circuit in her career. She reached ...
for fear of protests from India's Muslim community. On 4 February 2008, Mirza said that she would stop appearing in tennis tournaments held in India, starting with the 2008 Canara Bank Bangalore Open, 2008 Bangalore Open the following month, citing the series of controversies and upon advice by her manager. But Mirza chose to participate at the Tennis at the 2010 Commonwealth Games, 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi. After both
Mahesh Bhupathi Mahesh Shrinivas Bhupathi (born 7 June 1974) is an Indian former doubles world No. 1 tennis player. In 1997, he became the first Indian to win a major tournament (with Rika Hiraki). With his win at the 2006 Australian Open mixed doubles, he ...
and
Rohan Bopanna Rohan Bopanna ( ; born 4 March 1980) is an Indian professional tennis player. His singles career-high ranking was world No. 213 in 2007 and his career-high ranking in doubles was world No. 3 on 22 July 2013. He has been a member of the Indian ...
refused to play in the men's doubles event at the 2012 Olympics with
Leander Paes Leander Adrian Paes ( ; born 17 June 1973) is an Indian former professional tennis player. He is regarded as one of the greatest doubles tennis players ever. He holds the record for the most doubles wins in the Davis Cup. Paes won eight men's ...
, Paes demanded that he be partnered with Mirza for the mixed doubles event. Mirza accused the All India Tennis Association (AITA) of using her as 'bait' to keep Paes happy as she wanted to play with Bhupathi, with whom she has won 2 grand slams. In the end, Mirza was paired with Paes and the pair lost in the quarterfinals of the mixed doubles. Sania Mirza, along with
Sunitha Rao Sunitha Rao (born October 27, 1985) is an American former professional tennis player, who represented India in international tournaments. She won eight doubles titles on the ITF Circuit in her career. On July 7, 2008, she reached her best singl ...
, was photographed violating the dress code at Beijing Olympic Opening Ceremony parade in 2008. In response, Mirza reaffirmed loyalty to the land of her birth—"To see the national flag go up while standing on the podium is the proudest moment in an athlete's life and I will want to experience that for myself in London." Mirza was referred to as "Pakistan's daughter-in-law" and unfit to be a representative of an Indian state after she was appointed the Telangana state's brand ambassador. The comment referred to Mirza's husband, Shoaib Malik being a Pakistani cricketer. Telangana chief minister Kalvakuntla Chandrashekar Rao presented Mirza with 1 crore on two occasions. She was summoned by the tax department for non-payment of service tax on the payment received, however she responded that the 1 crore given was training incentive, and not towards becoming state's brand ambassador.


Career statistics


Grand Slam performance timelines


Women's doubles


Mixed doubles


Grand Slam finals


Women's doubles: 4 (3 titles, 1 runner–up)


Mixed doubles: 7 (3 titles, 4 runner–ups)


Autobiography

In July 2016, Mirza published an autobiography titled ''Ace Against Odds'' chronicling her journey to the top. The book also lists some of her memorable encounters on and off the court and talks about the people and relationships that have contributed to Mirza's growth as a person and a sportsperson.


See also

* Muslim women in sport


References


External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Mirza, Sania 1986 births Living people Asian Games gold medalists for India Asian Games silver medalists for India Asian Games bronze medalists for India Asian Games medalists in tennis Australian Open (tennis) champions Commonwealth Games bronze medallists for India Commonwealth Games silver medallists for India French Open champions Grand Slam (tennis) champions in girls' doubles Grand Slam (tennis) champions in women's doubles Grand Slam (tennis) champions in mixed doubles Hopman Cup competitors Indian female tennis players Olympic tennis players of India Indian expatriates in the United Arab Emirates Recipients of the Padma Bhushan in sports Recipients of the Arjuna Award Racket sportspeople from Hyderabad, India Tennis players at the 2002 Asian Games Tennis players at the 2006 Asian Games Tennis players at the 2008 Summer Olympics Tennis players at the 2010 Asian Games Tennis players at the 2010 Commonwealth Games Tennis players at the 2012 Summer Olympics Tennis players at the 2014 Asian Games Tennis players at the 2016 Summer Olympics Tennis players at the 2020 Summer Olympics Wimbledon junior champions Sportswomen from Hyderabad, India Commonwealth Games medallists in tennis Recipients of the Padma Shri in sports 21st-century Indian women 21st-century Indian people Medalists at the 2002 Asian Games Medalists at the 2006 Asian Games Medalists at the 2010 Asian Games Medalists at the 2014 Asian Games Sportswomen from Telangana BBC 100 Women Recipients of the Khel Ratna Award WTA number 1 ranked doubles tennis players ITF World Champions