Kolkata: Indian tennis star Sania Mirza, turned 32 on Thursday.West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee wished her on the occasion."Wishing you a very happy birthday @MirzaSania. Enjoy your motherhood. Have a happy and blessed life ahead," Ms Banerjee posted on her social networking page.
Pakistan cricketer Shoaib Malik and Mirza were blessed with their son on October 30 last and the father of the newly born took to social media to give the good news to their fans and well-wishers.
Born on this day in 1986, A former world No 1 in the doubles discipline, Mirza has won six Grand Slam titles in her career. From 2003 until her retirement from singles in 2013, she was ranked by the WTA as India's No 1 player in both the categories.
Throughout her career, Mirza has established herself as the most successful (female) Indian tennis player ever and one of the highest-paid and high-profile athletes in the country.
In her singles career, Mirza has notable wins over Svetlana Kuznetsova, Vera Zvonareva and Marion Bartoli; as well as former world No. 1s Martina Hingis, Dinara Safina, and Victoria Azarenka.
She is the highest-ranked female player ever from India, peaking at world No. 27 in singles in mid-2007; however, a major wrist injury forced her to give up her singles career and focus on the doubles circuit.
Mirza has achieved a number of firsts for women's tennis in her native country, including surpassing US$1 million in career earnings (now over $6 million), winning a singles Pro-level title, and winning six major titles (three each in women's doubles and in mixed doubles), as well as qualifying for (and eventually winning) the WTA Finals in 2014 alongside Cara Black,
defending the title the following year partnering with Martina Hingis.
In addition, she is the third Indian woman in the Open Era to feature and win a round at a Grand Slam tournament, and the first to reach the second week. She has also won a total of 14 medals (including 6 Gold) at three major multi-sport events, namely the Asian Games, the Commonwealth Games and the Afro-Asian Games.
Mirza was named one of the "50 Heroes of Asia" by Time in October 2005. She was appointed as the UN Women's Goodwill Ambassador for South Asia during the event held to mark the International Day To End Violence Against Women on November 25, 2013.She was named in Time magazine's 2016 list of the 100 most influential people in the world.(UNI)