Sania Mirza started playing singles in 2003 and dominated Indian rankings early in her career. Not only did she become India's highest-ever ranked female player, but by 2007 she went on to become world number 27. Later in April 2015, she was ranked number one in WTA doubles as well, keeping the title till 2017. To date, she holds 42 WTA titles.
Sania won her first mixed doubles Grand Slam – the Australian Open mixed doubles title -- in partnership with Mahesh Bhupati in 2009. The duo once again showed their magic and bagged their second Grand Slam in the 2012 French Open. In 2014, Mirza partnered with Bruno Soares of Brazil and won her third Grand Slam in US Open 2014 mixed doubles.
Her partnership with Swiss legend Martina Hingis won her three Grand Slams in women's doubles as well. The duo won their first at Wimbledon 2015, followed by US Open 2015, and Australian Open 2016.
Sania represented India for the first time at the 2002 Asian Games, when she was just 15 years old and won bronze in mixed doubles with Leander Paes. In 2006, she jumped to gold in mixed doubles and silver in women's doubles; and stuck to it until 2014.
The ace tennis player represented India in the 2010 Commonwealth Games, where she won silver in women's singles and bronze in women's doubles in partnership with Rushmi Chakravarthi.
Since 2003, the star player has been in 11 editions of the Indian Fed Cup team and has recorded 27 wins. In the Fed Cup 2020, she won three must-win ties taking India to the tournament's playoff stage for the first time in history.
To honour her accomplishments in tennis, Mirza was conferred with the Arjuna Award in 2004, followed by Padma Shri in 2006, Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna in 2015, and the Padma Bhushan in 2016.
In 2015, she made it to the list of BBC's 100 most inspiring women in the world, along with seven other Indians including Asha Bhonsle, Kamini Kaushal, among others.
The 43rd doubles trophy that she won in Ostrava Open, alongside Shuai Zhang in 2021, was her last before announcing retirement.