Sania Mirza

Till the other day, cricket in India was like a religion. But thanks to Sania Mirza who has reached 34th place and hope to be among the top 20 in less than a year, tennis has caught the imagination of people in India. Posters of Sania and her short skirts now adorn the walls of the rooms of youth in every city and town in India.
Sania Mania is increasing and she has become the poster girl for this generation. Even her library spectacles and nose ring have turned into a fashion statement.

On her birthday, we at Parinda greet Sania Mirza, the sensation that has brought more excitement into the business of sports news.

1. Sania was born on 15th November 1986 in Mumbai, India
   
2. She lives in Hyderabad, India
   
3. She weighs 130 lbs. (59 kg)
   
4. She is 5'7 1/2" (1.53m) tall.
   
5. She is right Handed (Double-handed Backhand).
   
6. Her favourite surface for tennis is Hard.
   
7. Her coach is C.G.K. Bhupathi
   
8. Sania Began playing Tennis when she was six years old
   
9. Her favourite player is Steffi Graf
   
10. Sania Mirza has suffered a back injury that is being played down but may keep her out of the game for six months.
    
11. It is being said that her charges for modelling, among the sportspersons, are second only to Sachin Tendulkar’s
    
12. Sania and her family are devout Muslims
    
13. Sania is playing down the `fatwa` issued about her revealing outfits that earned her the wrath of a section of Muslim clergy. However, despite being a devout Muslim, Sania has no intention of compromising with the orthodox clergy. It is an open secret that short skirts and tight blouses are the major reason for women tennis players, all over the world to make unbelievable amounts from promoting branded sportswear and other products.
    
14. Though the craze about Sania has turned into a mania and several film producers have expressed a desire to sign her for films, she has ruled out a career in films. In fact, in future she may study interior decoration. 
    
15. When she is at home, which is not very often, she likes to watch movies or surf the Net.
    
16. Though she watches some English films, Sania prefers to watch Bollywood movies.
    
17. Her favourite stars are Akshay Kumar and Raveena Tandon.
    
18. Usually, while surfing, she only checks her mail but she also visits tennisindia.org.
    
19. Sania hates reading.
    
20. It is interesting to note that the Times of India, known as an English daily with the highest circulation in the world, got her to edit one issue as their Guest Editor!
    
21. Her favourite music is rap and Bollywood songs.
    
22. Her favourite cricketer Sachin Tendulkar gifted her a car after she won the junior Wimbledon doubles.
    
23. Sania doesn’t have too many friends as she has little time to socialize. But on the international level, professionally, she has a lot of friends. They meet for just one week and then everyone is off to their own countries and their own lives.
    
24. When in Hyderabad, Sania gets up at about 6 am and goes for physical training. She comes home for breakfast after an hour-and-a-half and by 8 am she is at the tennis courts. She plays till about 10.30 am, returns home and does studies, catches up on sleep and goes back to play at 2 pm. She is at the courts until 4.30 pm. After that it's physical fitness again until 6.30 pm. This includes all kinds of training: the gym 3-4 times a week, some speed work, endurance and agility.
    
25. The Mirzas are good friends of former world doubles champion pair, Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi.
    
26. Sania loves meat. She eats meat for breakfast, lunch and dinner. She can't stand vegetables! Sania has a tendency to put on weight, but she works out so much that she burns most of it.
    
27. She eats fruits, but hates bananas.
    
28. Like Aishwarya Rai, Sania too has a habit of giggling at the slightest provocation.  
    
29. She wears everything: shalwars, jeans, pants. However, she is mostly in her tracks!
    
30. Sania wore a T-shirt at Wimbledon bearing the legend: "Well-behaved women rarely make history"; and at the US Open the line ran: "You can either agree with me, or be wrong". But she shrewdly refuses to acknowledge these as her own messages and says that if she wished to convey a message, she would talk.
    
31. Her favourite colours are black, red and blue.
    
32. She believes that if she were a guy she would be playing cricket.
    
33. Though Sania has no time for distractions a boyfriend would be welcome. She’d like someone who is good-looking and over six feet tall. He should be understanding and a nice person and not have any ego hassles.