Sania Mirza is a professional Indian tennis player, well known for her powerful forehand ground strokes. She holds the record for being the highest ranked Indian player for over a decade in between 2003–2013, after which her retirement from the singles competition put Ankita Raina at the top spot.
In her career, Mirza has notable wins over Svetlana Kuznetsova, Vera Zvonareva, Marion Bartoli; and former World No. 1s Martina Hingis, Dinara Safina, and Victoria Azarenka. She 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 US$1m in career earnings; 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 andLeander Paes). Mirza has also won the 2012 French Open – Mixed Doubles Event (her second Grand Slam title).
Mirza was named one of the '50 heroes of Asia' by Time in October 2005. In March 2010, The Economic Times named Mirza in the list of the "33 women who made India proud".
