New Delhi: Martina Hingis, Switzerland, and Sania Mirza (1), India, def. Casey Dellacqua, Australia, and Yaroslava Shvedova (4), Kazakhstan, 6-3, 6-3. to win US open 2015. It is the second title for the duo after they won Wimbledon earlier this year.
Sania Mirza created history by becoming the first female player from the country to win a women's doubles Grand Slam trophy as she clinched the Wimbledon title with Swiss partner Martina Hingis.
Sania Mirza was also conferred with the prestigious Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna—the country's highest sporting honour.
Here are some lesser know facts about Sania Mirza.
Sania Mirza was born in Mumbai on 15th November, 1986 to Imran Mirza and Naseema.
Sania Mirza's father Imran was a sports journalist. Later he went into printing business and finally he became a builder. Her mother Naseema was also associated with the printing industry.
Sania was drawn to lawn tennis by her father. She started playing tennis at the tender age of six at Nizam Club Hyderabad.
When Sania was first taken to the coach, he refused to coach her. After a week he called up the parents of Sania and told them that he has never seen a talent at such a tender age.
Her initial training was handled by C K Bhupati, father of Mahesh Bhupati, the legendary Indian tennis player.
Sania in her 10 years of professional career faced a lot of troubles. From scandal to marriage controversy, the Indian tennis star has won all her battles off the court as well.
She has recently completed a decade in the international tennis circuit. She was awarded a wildcard entry in her first ever WTA tournament at the AP Tourism Hyderabad Open in February 2003.
During her ten years in international tennis, Sania has brought laurels for India along with her personal achievements.
Sania is the highest ranked female tennis player ever from India, with a career high ranking of 27 in singles and 7 in doubles. She is the first Indian female player to surpass $1m in career earnings.
She has also won the Arjuna Award and has been conferred the Padma Shri, the fourth highest civilian honour in India. Sania was named one of the “50 heroes of Asia” by Time Magazine, and named by The Economic Times in the list of “33 women who made India proud“.
In her career, Sania has notable wins over Svetlana Kuznetsova, Vera Zvonareva, Marion Bartoli; former World No. 1 Martina Hingis & Dinara Safina; and current World No. 1 Victoria Azarenka.
She is the first Indian to win a WTA Tour title of any kind; and, by winning the 2009 Australian Open – Mixed Doubles Event, became the third Indian, male or female, to win a Grand Slam title (the first two being Mahesh Bhupathi and Leander Paes).
She has also won the 2012 French Open – Mixed Doubles Event (her second Grand Slam title).
In 2009, Sania Mirza became engaged to childhood friend Sohrab Mirza. However the engagement was called off shortly after.
Then, she dated Faizan Udyawar, who is a multimillionaire businessman, for six months. Since she wanted to marry a sportsperson, she started seeing Pakistani cricketer Shoaib Malik.
On 12 April 2010, she married Shoaib Malik in a highly publicized wedding ceremony, both in Hyderabad and in Sialkot and Lahore, Pakistan.
There was a storm in a tea cup during the wedding, when Shoaib Malik was accused by another girl of already having married to her and hence he could not marry Mirza without first divorcing her.
