Sania Mirza: The poster girl of Indian tennis who looks forward to challenges

Indian tennis star Sania Mirza winning the Hobart International Women’s Doubles title with Nadia Kitchenok of Ukraine is a great news for Indian sports and especially for Indian tennis. For Sania, who returns to the tennis court after becoming a mother, this comeback is like a film script. Sania was away from tennis for two years after becoming a mother. Sania, who married Pakistani cricketer Shoaib Malik, gave birth to Izhaan in 2018. He played the last tournament in October 2017.

Actually, the 34-year-old Sania’s entire life story seems fictitious rather than real. About a year ago, Sania announced that the work of filming on her life has already started and for this she has been signed with Ronnie Screwvala.

Films have been made in India on the lives of many players including Milkha Singh, Mary Kom and Mahendra Singh Dhoni, and films on Kapil Dev and many players including Saina Nehwal. But, looking at Sania Mirza’s career of nearly a decade and a half, more than inside the court she made headlines outside the court and her life took many turns, which any director could have done brilliantly before the silver screen.

Thousands of Indians arrived at the stadium during the 2016 Rio Olympics to watch Sania and Rohan Boppana’s match. I was also present in the press box. The hope was that the pair could bring India a medal. During the entire match, Sania-Sania’s noise was making as if the slogan of Sachin-Sachin was echoing in the Wankhede Stadium. Sania Mirza may not be a cricketer, but her personality in India is no less than a cricketer.

If Sania wants to understand, then her self-story ‘Against Odds’ must be read. The manner in which Sania has described her struggles within and outside the court has very little precedent in Indian sports. Having won six Grand Slam titles (three women’s doubles, three mixed doubles) at the age of 29, Sania won the Wimbledon Junior doubles title at the age of 16. Since then, the Indian media has told him the biggest hope of tennis for the future.

Like Sachin Tendulkar, Sania never bowed to the pressure of expectations but she did her game better. He knew that he had to do a lot to make his mark in the dominance of cricket in India and he did it well. Working in many top news channels of the country during that period, I saw how quickly the editors used to give the green signal to the idea of ​​a special program for half an hour over Sania. Sania was a star not only because of her game but also her personality. Like the star cricketers, Sania too had her own show which was not ready for interview very easily.

A few years ago, Sania won 41 consecutive matches with her doubles partner Martina Hingis, and rose to the top of the doubles tennis rankings. Martina Hingins, who wrote a prologue in Sania’s autobiography, described Sania as the best player with a dangerous forehand. Mahesh Bhupathi, another tennis star from India and his partner in mixed doubles, has also written in the same book that Sania has an important role in changing the face of Indian sports and these things are not just a matter of appreciation for her fellow players. is. Are reality

Yes, it is also true that apart from tennis, Sania’s personal life has always been very much discussed, whether it is about the issue of fatwa against her, about her operation, about her marriage to Pakistani cricketer Shoaib Malik. , Or the case of his remarks about premarital sex. Sania Mirza herself admitted that the whole world did not see her as just a tennis player.
When my T-shirt was discussed at Wimbledon, at the Nath at the US Open… whatever I wore, it would have been considered a symbol of rebellion… Perhaps the foreign media had not seen a young Indian girl before, or I A traditional Indian girl did not meet the criteria of the Americans …

There was a time that Sania also became a fashion icon. Sania’s Nath (nose ring) soon became very popular in India and started selling in the market as Sania nose ring … It had a lot of craze among the young girls, but there was another aspect of this fame coin. Sania herself narrated an anecdote when a childhood friend of hers could not identify her despite talking to Roger Federer or Yelena Yankovic in Wimbledon, as she had no interest in tennis! Sania Mirza took big stands on many controversial issues during her career. You agree or disagree with him, but despite being a player, taking a stand clearly is nothing short of bravery in India. Especially the way Sania put her talk against Leander Paes, Bhishma’s grand-father of tennis, just before the Olympics, only a bold and successful player could do it.

Apart from tennis, Sania has participated extensively in many social reform engagement programs. Sushma Swaraj inspired him to write columns in newspapers so that she could educate people against gender-identifying evils before birth. After marrying Pakistani cricketer Shoaib Malik, Sania faced taunts several times in private, but she was never defensive about her Indianness.

Whenever people tried to drag him on social media during Indo-Pak cricket matches, he would answer them in his own unique way. The Pakistani media too would have bothered her for being the daughter of India, but her patience broke when the plantation of her divorce from Shoaib Malik was constantly being speculated. Sania’s success is not just her success. Her father Imran Mirza and mother Naseema have also played an important role in leading their daughter to this position.

In 1993, when watching Steffi Graf winning the Wimbledon title on TV in the first week of July, Imran Mirza patted his 6-year-old daughter and said how much fun it would be if Sania too
Become a professional tennis player and play in Wimbledon. In the 90s, thinking of a father like this was also a big thing, but Sania’s mother Nasima, who returned from America and settled in Hyderabad, decided that she would do anything if the daughter wants to make tennis player.

In 2005, when the iconic Time magazine called Sania one of the heroes of Asia, it was clear that this girl alone changed the entire picture of women’s tennis on her own. Now after 15 years, after becoming a mother, Sania, who will make a great comeback on the tennis court, will be a role model for all the mothers of India who are often told to quit careers, concentrate at home.

Sania herself admitted that she got inspiration from players like Kim Clijsters and Serena Williams on how to make a great comeback despite being a mother. Sania, who was conferred with the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna, Padma Bhushan and Arjuna Award, had gained 26 kg after becoming a mother, but Sania quickly lost this extra weight as a player to re-enter the field. On social media, she has been constantly giving updates about how she is working vigorously on her fitness.

Even if Sania does not return this year and retire, her legacy in the history of Indian sports does not matter, but failing to make a comeback could have added some dust to a golden journey. It could have been a risky decision, but Sania cared for the risks throughout her career, which she would do now.

In 2007, at the age of 20, Sania Mirza became the first Indian woman to be in the top 30 in tennis rankings singles. In the last 13 years, no one has come close to them. For the past decade, the Indian media has been looking for the question of who after Sania, whose answer has not been found yet. Probably, these trophies won in Australia after becoming a mother also served to inspire the anonymous young players who could become the next Sania.

Even after becoming a mother, Sania’s aggressive attitude has not changed. Recently, when someone asked him at the airport where his children are, he replied with astonishment that when Shoaib is playing in the West Indies, why are he not asked this question?

Sania has started the year 2020 brilliantly, but she is not going to stop here. His dream is to win a medal at the Olympics. If Sania reaches Tokyo in the next 6 months and wins the medal, then understand that her film will also be on screen in 2021!