Saina Nehwal had become world No. 1 in women’s badminton recently.
By Raif Karerat
WASHINGTON, DC: Sania Mirza has entered herself into the history books by becoming the first woman from India to reach the summit of the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA). .
Mirza cruised into the top spot in the doubles rankings after she and Martina Hingis clinched the Family Circle Cup title in Charleston by defeating Casey Dellacqua and Darija Jurak in straight sets, 6-0, 6-4, on Sunday.
The Family Cup is the Indo-Swiss duo’s third successive title and they haven’t lost a single match since linking up in March. Mirza and Hingis won their first trophy in Indian Wells, which was their first tournament together, and followed up with a win in Miami.
“When you start off as a child playing tennis, you dream of being No. 1 in the world. It’s a dream for every person; very few get there. I feel extremely honored to be No. 1, it’s something that I’ve worked for all my life,” Mirza said in a statement on Sunday. “I hope this makes girls in India believe that anything is possible; we can achieve anything we want if we put our mind and body to it,” she added.
According to the latest tabulations, Mirza has 7,660 points in the No. 1 position, closely followed by Italian doubles pair of Sara Errani and Roberta Vinci, both with 7,640 points each, while Mirza’s doubles partner Martina Hingis occupies the fourth spot with 6,465 points.
Hingis is herself a former world No. 1 in both singles and doubles.
“I don’t want to make you feel old, but I did watch you as a kid,” she exclaimed to Hingis during the Family Circle Cup trophy ceremony, eliciting laughter from both her partner and the crowd. “You were an idol to most young girls at the time,” she emphatically continued.
Mirza climbed to the apex of the WTA ladder by winning seven doubles titles with three different partners over the past calendar year, including three with Hingis. Over the course of her career, Mirza has amassed 26 doubles titles and three Grand Slam mixed doubles titles.
Only three other Asian women have ever achieved the top WTA doubles ranking: Japan’s Ai Sugiyama, China’s Peng Shuai and Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei. Mahesh Bhupathi and Leander Paes are the only other Indians to achieve number one rankings at the highest echelon of professional tennis when they dominated men’s doubles in the late 1990s.
“Sania has attained many milestones throughout her successful career and this achievement is a fitting recognition of her talent, dedication and success,” said WTA Chairman and CEO Stacey Allaster. “I am sure Sania will continue to create history and inspire our ever-growing fan base in India and the wider Asia-Pacific region.”
Recently, India’s Saina Nehwal had become world No. 1 in women’s singles badminton, the spot which she had to relinquish soon after. Nehwal is at present the No. 2 player in the world in the women’s singles section.