Sania Mirza: A trailblazer like none other

Sania Mirza became the first Indian woman to win a WTA singles title in 2005. In 2009, she became the first Indian woman to win a Grand Slam - playing mixed doubles in the Australian Open with Mahesh Bhupathi that year. (Image source: Instagram/mirzasaniar)

Luisa Stefani had been waiting near the net as Sania Mirza returned Rafael Matos’ shot from the baseline. Her smash was too close for Rohan Bopanna to return. This course of action would have been routine – but for the fact that it brought the curtains on one of the most illustrious careers in Indian tennis.

Sania Mirza will no longer play in Grand Slams. The world knew that before the Australian Open began, but as one opposition fell after another – Jaimee Fourlis and Luke Saville, then Makoto Ninomiya and Ariel Behar, then Jelena Ostapenko and David Vega Hernandez, then Desirae Krawczyk and Neal Skupski – the expectations soared back home.

The nation that often cares for little beyond cricket woke up to catch her in action at half past six on a Friday.

Mirza was 14 when she first paired with 20-year-old Bopanna in the mixed doubles. Twenty-two years later, they were out there for one final hurrah.
It was not to be. There was no dream ending, but then, Mirza has probably scripted more fairytales than most athletes in Indian history.

A remarkable career

Mirza is related to Indian Test captain Ghulam Ahmed and former Pakistan Test captain Asif Iqbal. Years later, her sister is the daughter-in-law of Mohammad Azharuddin, while she is herself married to Shoaib Malik. The only reason she didn’t take the obvious route of becoming a cricketer was, in her own words, “it was unheard of for girls to pick up a cricket bat.”

Thus, while her parents were keen on her taking up a sport, cricket was not an option. Sania Mirza was a skater, a swimmer, and a tennis player to begin with. The choice became obvious once it became evident that she was a lot better at tennis than at the other two. All this may sound like she was reasonably mature, but her tennis lessons began when she was only six.

They did not know it back then, but in the late 1990s, Hyderabad was witnessing the formative years of three stars who would be trailblazers in their own sports. Mirza was blazing her way through junior level tennis,Saina Nehwal’s parents had withdrawn her from karate to enroll her in P.S.S. Nani Prasad’s badminton classes. And Mithali Raj had been shortlisted for a cricket World Cup on home soil. Perhaps it was a coincidence. Perhaps not. But in their own ways, they would become icons of Indian sport in the 21st century.

In the 20th century, Indian sport had almost no female superstar to look up to. P.T. Usha was a lone exception, but her spectacular career faded coinciding with a phase when India went through three consecutive editions of the Olympics – 1984, 1988, 1992 – without winning a single medal.

At the 2000 Sydney Olympics, weightlifter Karnam Malleswari became the first Indian woman to win an Olympic medal. At Taunton in 2002, Raj made 214, the highest score in the history of women’s Test cricket. At Paris in 2003, long jumper Anju Bobby George became the first Indian to win a medal at the World Championships in Athletics.

Mirza arrived amidst this unprecedented rise of female athletes in India. She turned professional in 2003, and got a wildcard entry to the Hyderabad Open in the same year. In 2005, she beat Alona Bondarenko to win the same tournament, becoming the first Indian woman to win a WTA singles title. The “first Indian woman to” would remain a constant presence throughout her illustrious career. In the same year, she beat Marion Bartoli at the US Open to reach the fourth round of any Grand Slam – the first Indian
woman, obviously – only to lose to Maria Sharapova.

The next year, she beat Svetlana Kuznetsova, Nadia Petrova, and Martina Hingis – all top-ten players – to break through to the top 30 singles ranking. Her and Hingis’ paths would cross again. Her bold gameplay impressed all. “When the match got tight, like a final set tie-breaker or a super tie-breaker, Sania would go for the lines,” her coach Nandan Bal later told The Hindu. She was not merely an outstanding player: she had been playing aggressive, attractive tennis.

In 2009, she won the mixed doubles at the Australian Open with Mahesh Bhupathi – again, the first Indian woman to win any Grand Slam. She would also win the French Open (with Bhupathi in 2012) and US Open (with Bruno Soares in 2014) in the same discipline.

Her other three Grand Slams came in women’s doubles, all with Hingis: Wimbledon 2015, US Open in 2015, and Australian Open in 2016. The US Open, in particular, deserves special mention, for Mirza and Hingis won all six matches without dropping a set. Mirza’s forehand and Hingis’ backhand became an indomitable combination that won them 41 matches in a row.

Before all that, in April 2015, the pair had won the Family Circle’s Cup. This largely forgotten win made Mirza the first Indian woman to reach the top rank in the world. “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,” she would later admit.

Already in 2014, she had become the first South Asian woman to be appointed as a United Nations goodwill ambassador.

Hurdles and controversies

Yet, Mirza’s story has not been merely one of triumphs. There were controversies galore, mostly for little fault of hers.

In 2005, a fatwa was issued regarding her attire at the tournaments. She responded by donning a “well-behaved women rarely make history” t-shirt at that year’s Wimbledon.

In 2007, a lawsuit was filed against her for shooting a commercial in the Mecca Mosque in Hyderabad.

In 2008, she was accused of disrespecting the Indian tricolour when she inadvertently sat with her feet resting on a table next to the Indian flag. This time a citizen of Bhopal filed a complaint under the Prevention of Insult to the National Honour Act.

She subsequently withdrew herself from all tennis tournaments on Indian soil with immediate effect – though she did feature in the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi. By then, Mirza had become even less popular with certain sections in India for marrying a Pakistani cricketer. She silenced this absurd criticism of her personal choice in a way only she could: by bringing more silverware home.

There were other battles too. At the Fenesta Open National Tennis Championship of 2012, chief guest Mirza pointed out to Anil Khanna, president of the All-India Tennis Association, that the winner’s prize money for the men was 50 percent more than for the women. Khanna promptly announced equal pay for the genders.

Imperfect ending, perfect story

In late 2018, she chose to blaze a new trail. Months after the birth of her son Izhaan, she announced that she would return to the court. It felt improbable, but she had made up her mind three days after Izhaan’s delivery.

It took her four months to shed four kilograms. In early 2020, she won the Hobart International with Nadiia Kichenok. In 2022, she paired with Mate Pavic to reach the semi-finals of the Wimbledon. There, the pair beat Krawczyk and Skupski in the first set before losing the next two.

The career Grand Slam was one of few things that was not meant to be. Just like the perfect swansong at the Rod Laver Arena.

Not that it mattered, for Mirza has already paved the way for many a future superstar to follow in her footsteps, to rise above bigotry, sexism, and discrimination, to etch their names in the history of sports.

Still 16, Shruti Ahlawat is already making waves in Indian tennis. She won’t be the only one, for her generation has a role model to look up to.