Most Significant Female Tennis Player In History

by Hasan
(India)

Sania Mirza is the most important female tennis player ever. The reason is because not only is she a great tennis player, but she also has shown great personal courage in simply playing the sport when many powerful people criticize her for it. She broke the mold and set an example for millions of muslim women worldwide.

Sania Mirza is the highest ranked female tennis player ever from India. As a Muslim, she has received widespread criticism from Orthodox Islamic groups, as her on court attire allegedly did not conform to Islamic dress codes. However she has a huge following in her home country despite only ever winning one WTA Tour title. Her annual earnings from sponsorship are second only to cricketer Sachin Tendulkar in India.

Sania Mirza was born on 15 Nov, 1986 to Nasima and Imran in Mumbai. The family relocated to Hyderabad and Sania Mirza along with her sister Anam grew up in Hyderabad. Sania started playing tennis at the age of 6 with her father but was originally told she was too small to make it in the game by one coach. However her parents were determined for the young Sania to succeed and after finding a coach who was to prepared to take her on began to see her potential realised. By the age of 12 she had created a huge buzz in India by winning the under-14 and under-16 Indian national championships.

Sania Mirza's high profile life, her endorsements and commercial posters have caught the attention of the Muslim clerics in India. Muslim clerics were enraged by her sports attire, a short skirt and T-shirt, who they termed it as a corrupting influence on youngsters. Haseeb-ul-hasan Siddiqui, a leading cleric with the Sunni Ulema Board has issued a fatwa to Sania Mirza for her indecent dress code. He said, "The dress she wears on the tennis courts… leaves nothing to the imagination, she will undoubtedly be a corrupting influence."

Islamic groups such as Jamiat-ulema-e-Hind threatened to disrupt her tennis matches. Likewise several Islamic groups castigated her for her so-called indecent dressing on tennis courts. But Sania Mirza found solace from the Major Shia Organization in India, The All-India Shia Muslim Personal Law Board. The Board allegedly criticized the edict issued by Muslim clerics on Sania Mirza's dresses while playing, has asked them not to interfere in the sports arena.

Achievements: * First Indian woman to reach the fourth round of a Grand Slam tournament * First Indian woman to win a WTA singles title (Hyderabad Open in 2005) * WTA's Most Impressive Newcomer for the year 2005 * Padma Shri Award in 2006.