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Every tennis player dreams of winning Wimbledon ever since they pick up a racquet. The traditions, the grass courts, the English weather and the glittering trophy – very few eventually do and even fewer make it to the history books. On Saturday evening, Sania Mirza did both at the same time.
Along with Martina Hingis, she played her way into history and won the Women’s Doubles title. She now stands on a pedestal on which no other Indian women has ever stepped on before, and a country obsessed with only one sport, now has another champion to cheer and cherish. The road to the top certainly hasn’t been easy and in her case even more.
Sania was born in Mumbai to Imran and Naseema Mirza. The family moved to Hyderabad shortly after her birth and her parents encouraged the young Mirza to take up tennis at the age of six. Sania was trained by her father and her coach Roger Anderson, who was impressed by the talented child.
She won 10 singles and 13 double titles as a junior player and success came early to her. But it was in 2003 that she made India sit up by winning the Wimbledon Championships Girls Doubles title and an Arjuna award, conferred by the Indian government in 2004, soon followed. It was a heady feeling to be the first Indian girl to win a Grand Slam title and at 16, Sania Mirza had arrived.
But the ride till Wimbledon wasn’t easy. A girl playing tennis in Hyderabad was unheard of at the time. People made fun of her and her parents were questioned and laughed at on how they raised their child. Sania faced a lot of social stigmas and society had a long list of what a girl should and shouldn’t do.
People would worry about the fact that she would become dark while playing in the sun and more stereotypes followed from her own relatives.
Other problems included not finding enough practice partners, infrastructure and expenses. Earning in Indian Rupees and spending in Dollars was always difficult and the Mirza family had to find sponsors to fund her training and travelling.
After Wimbledon, Sania started to make her presence felt in tournaments around the world. The highlight of 2005 was the U.S. Open where she was the first Indian woman to make it to the fourth round before being beaten by Maria Sharapova.
In 2006, she broke into the Top 30 ranks and won medals for the country in the Doha Asian Games – Gold in the mixed doubles and Silver in women’s singles and team. The bouquets were followed by brickbats and Sania was in the center of controversies.
Little did she realize that it would be something that she would have to live with for the rest of her life. Muslim groups in India criticised her dressing sense on court and a leading cleric issued a religious order demanding that Mirza stop wearing indecent clothes to play tennis. After she spoke at a conference on safe sex in India, people misinterpreted her statements and called her “a corrupting influence on the youth”. Sania later clarified her stance later by saying that she was opposed to pre-marital sex.
In 2009, she won her first Grand Slam title with Mahesh Bhupathi in the Australian Open. The year had been particularly eventful as she had to withdraw from games due to a wrist injury. While she had it treated, the injury would eventually force her to withdraw from the Singles circuit and concentrate on the Doubles circuit.
Apart from the injuries and the Grand Slam title, she was also engaged to her childhood friend Sohrab Mirza, a millionaire businessman. Unfortunately the engagement broke off soon due to differences between the lovers. As her on court performances showed, she didn’t take the break-up well and the ensuing media attention that soon followed took her off her game.
The wrist injury resurfaced in 2010 and forced her to pull out from the French Open among other tournaments till late 2011. While her career came to a halt due to injury, Sania was once again in the limelight for her widely publicized marriage to Pakistan cricketer, Shoaib Malik. The online attention made her the most searched woman tennis player and Indian sportsperson in 2010.
The wedding had its twists and turns as Malik was accused by another girl of already being married to her and thus he could not marry Mirza without getting a divorce first. While Malik initially denied it, he later got a divorce and married Sania in Hyderabad and Pakistan.
Back from a wrist injury Sania focused on the Double’s circuit and started to make her way back into the game. She gained considerable success in tournaments with different partners but alas could not go all the way and win a Slam.
Critics began to write her off and felt that after marriage and an injury, Sania was done. The view was further strengthened when she refused to partner with Leander Paes in the
2012 Olympics and accused the All India Tennis Association (AITA) of using her as bait to keep Paes happy. They eventually paired up but crashed out in the quarter finals.
Sania has had more than her fair share of controversies in her career. Yet she has remained as strong as ever if not more. Tennis is a mental game and while you need to be in shape to play, it is the mental aspect which decides whether you will win or lose on that day even before the game begins.
She was recently accused of not being an Indian and she broke down on an Indian news channel when she told the host how hard it was for her to assert her nationality on the psyche of her fans and nation.
To achieve what she has, you can only begin to fathom her mental toughness and her desire to excel. She is a tough competitor who has never had anything handed to her. Sania Mirza has truly gone where no Indian woman has gone before and won at Wimbledon. Some journeys are meant to be completed and she has done it through controversies and much more. Truly unbreakable.
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