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Coached by her father, Imran Mirza, Sania began
playing tennis at age six. She turned professional
in 2003. She became the first and only Indian woman
to reach the 4th round of a Grand Slam tournament at
the 2005 US Open. She is the highest ranked female
tennis player ever from India (She had a rank of 34,
her highest ever, by mid-September 2005). Her
original goal was to enter the top 100 by the end of
2005, but she revised it to entering the top 50
after good performances at the beginning of the
year. (She may have also been helped by the fact
that she has very few points to defend for this year
and thus, it has been an upward journey in
rankings.) As of September 2005, she ranked 3rd
among Asian women. Her year-end rank in 2004 was 206
She
loves listening to Hindi Remixes and Hip hop,
including Eminem. Other then tennis she also likes
swimming and playing cricket. Also is a big admirer
of Gandhi. Sania won the Wimbledon Championships
Girls' Doubles title in 2003, teaming up with Alisa
Kleybanova of Russia. She got a wild card entry to
the 2005 Australian Open and created history by
becoming the first Indian woman to enter the third
round of a Grand Slam tournament. She lost in the
3rd round to eventual champion Serena Williams. On
February 12, 2005, she became the first Indian woman
to win a WTA singles title defeating Alyona
Bondarenko of Ukraine in the Hyderabad Open Finals
- 2005 Dubai Tennis Championships: 2nd Round:
Upset reigning US Open Champion Svetlana
Kuznetsova 6-4, 6-2 to reach the quarter-finals
- - 2005 Hyderabad Open singles: Won the
tournament defeating Alyona Bondarenko of
Ukraine 6-4, 5-7, 6-3 in the final and became
the first Indian woman to capture a WTA singles
title.
- - 2005 Australian Open singles: 3rd round:
Became first Indian woman to reach the 3rd round
of a Grand Slam tournament.
- - 2004 Hyderabad Open doubles: Won the
tournament (partnering with Liezel Huber) to
become the youngest Indian to win a WTA or ATP
tour title and the first Indian woman to capture
a WTA tour title.
- - 2003 Junior Wimbledon Championships doubles:
Won the tournament (partnering with Alisa
Kleybanova) to become the youngest Indian and
the first Indian woman to win a junior Grand
Slam title
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