Though she could not make a mark with any singles Grand Slam title, she notched top seeds like Svetlana Kutnetsova and the then world no 1 Matina Hingis at that time senior top seed tennis players had said a star is born in India.
Sania retired from singles career in 2013 having had a wrist injury in 2007. From 2014 she specialized in doubles and in 2015 she paired up with Martina Hingis winning the Ladies Doubles Grand Slams of Wimbledon and US Open and Australian Open in 2016. She also has to her credit 3 Grand Slams Mixed Doubles of Australian Open in 2009 and 2012 which she won with Mahesh Bhupati and again in 2014 US Open which she won pairing Bruno Soares.
She has been drawn into various controversies possibly because of her marriage to Shoaib Malik a Pakistani cricketer but Sania defended herself and silenced all her critics. She maintained she is an Indian citizen and she proved her patriotism in London Olympics of 2012 when she said, it is a proud moment for any athelete to see the national flag going up and I would want that for myself. Sania participates in tennis tournaments in different parts of the world and wherever she plays she draws large crowds, mostly youth and even the elderly
Sania is an inspiration and one in a billion. No Indian to date has managed to win Grand Slam titles in tennis for the country.
The Indian Government reciprocated her by honoring her with Arjuna Award in 2004, Padma Shri in 2006, Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award in 2015 and Padma Bhuma in 2016. She is the brand ambassador for the state of Telengana and acknowledging the honour and pride she brought for the country, the state government of Telengana rewarded her with a prize money of Rs 1 crore on two occasions.
Martina Hingis, a Swiss national is a guiding force for Sania who was earlier world no 1 in ranking and who had won all the four Grand Slam titles in 1998 in her singles career. Long live the partnership of Sania Mirza and Martina Hingis and may they both bring many laurels to India and Switzerland.
