Six-time Grand Slam champion and one of India’s best-ever tennis player, Sania Mirza celebrates her 34th birthday on November 15, 2020 (Sunday). Mirza has so far won three women’s doubles and three mixed doubles Grand Slam titles and has established herself as one of India’s most successful athletes. Mirza burst into limelight after winning the 2003 Wimbledon Championships Girls’ Doubles title and has gone to win two Australian Open, two US Open and a French Open and Wimbledon title in her Grand Slam career. Sania Mirza Spotted in Karachi Cheering for Husband Shoaib Malik During Peshawar Zalmi's Match Against Lahore Qalandars in PSL 2020 (View Pics).

Mirza, born in 1986, started out playing different sports before settling at tennis at the age of 12. She had already partnered Leander Paes in mixed doubles at the 2002 Asian Games and helped India to a bronze medal finish while also clinching four gold medals at the 2003 Afro-Asian Games before turning professional. She turned professional in 2003 and won her maiden WTA doubles title at the 2004 AP Tourism Hyderabad Open. A year later, Sania clinched her maiden WTA singles title at the Hyderabad Open before establishing herself as one of India’s most successful women’s tennis player. As she celebrates her 34th birthday, take a look at some interesting facts about Sania Mirza.

  • Sania Mirza was born to Imran Mirza and Naseema in Mumbai on November 15, 1986

  • Sania first held a Tennis racquet at the age of 6

  • She won the 2003 Wimbledon Junior Championship in Girls Doubles Category

  • Sania Mirza is the first Indian woman to win a Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) title. She achieved the feat when she clinched the 2005 AP Tourism Hyderabad Open

  • She is the first Indian woman Tennis player to earn more than USD 1 million

  • Sania is the first Indian woman to win a Women’s Doubles Grand Slam. She partnered with Martina Hingis to win the 2015 Wimbledon Championships

  • She is also the first woman to be appointed as the UN Women Goodwill Ambassador for South Asia

Mirza took a sabbatical from tennis in 2018 due to pregnancy and returned to action in 2020 at the Hobart International in Brisbane where she partnered with Nadiia Kichenok and clinched the title. But she had to withdraw from the Australian Open after the first round due to a calf injury. Mirza also withdrew from the US Open and French Open and is training to return to action soon.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Nov 15, 2020 12:27 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).