Sania Mirza is on top of the world, literally. India’s best-ever woman tennis player, who started off the New Year in style with a doubles victory in the Brisbane International last week, is now ranked World No. 1 in the doubles team rankings released for this week on Monday.
For the record, Sania and Bethanie Mattek-Sands of the US have been playing the circuit for some time and the duo, as a part of the preparations for the Australian Open Grand Slam, is competing in the circuit Down Under.
By virtue of their Brisbane win last week, the 25-year-old Hyderabadi and her partner are the No. 1 pair with 470 points followed by Kveta Peschke and Anna-Lena Groenfeld (320 points) and Cara Black and Anastasia Rodionova (280 points) in that order as per Monday’s rankings. A remarkable performance given the fact that many critics have virtually written off Sania whose career has been hit by a series of injuries – the most painful being the wrist injury. “That was the phase when I could not hold even a racket and wondered whether it was all over for me,” Sania recalled.
“Honestly, this is the best start to the year I have ever had. Winning a premier event like the Brisbane International is truly a special feeling,” pointed out Sania. “ Bethanie and I complement each other on the court. We have tremendous potential as a team. We have been great friends for several years on the Tour,” the star Indian player said about her partner.
“More importantly, we are now the No. 1 team. Certainly, we would like to finish the year on a high,” said the only Indian woman player ever to win two Grand Slam titles.
