Rohan Bopanna’s triumph in Melbourne has shifted the spotlight to Indian tennis. Before the 2024 Australian Open men’s doubles champion, the last Indian to get their hands on a Grand Slam trophy was Sania Mirza. Her 2016 Australian Open women’s doubles triumph with Martina Hingis was the last instance of an Indian other than Bopanna lifting a Grand Slam title.
After a few years of playing singles early in her career, Mirza transformed into a doubles specialist around 2010. She retired in 2023, after the Dubai Tennis Championships. She paired up with none other than Bopanna to play mixed doubles in last year’s Australian Open, reaching the final.
Debuting in 2003, Mirza earned $7,265,246 in total prize money over a 20-year career. Her doubles Grand Slam achievements have been the biggest contributors to this pool. After retirement, she continues to serve as a pundit for Indian broadcasters of major tennis tournaments. She is also immensely popular on the internet, boasting 12.8 million followers on Instagram. She is the fourth-most followed tennis player in the world on the platform.
Overall, fuelled by these factors, Sania Mirza’s net worth is about $26 million, as per The Financial Express. Throughout her career, she has worn apparel sponsored by big corporations like Nike, Adidas, and Lotto. She had a long-standing partnership with Wilson for rackets and equipment.
Her popularity across India means she continues to draw big endorsement deals despite retiring. The biggest brands in her portfolio include Adidas, TVS, Hershey’s, Cadbury, The Coco Cola Company and a bunch of Indian companies. Mirza continues to be associated with premier sports teams in India as a mentor or ambassador. Like Bopanna, she also operates a tennis academy in her home city of Hyderabad.
Mirza owns a lavish home worth ₹13 crore (over $1.5 million) in Hyderabad (Zee). She married Pakistani cricketer Shoaib Malik in 2010 and lived with him in a luxurious private island house in Dubai. However, they recently announced their separation. Regardless, Mirza will feature in the coverage of the 2024 Australian Open men’s singles final as she has throughout the event.
Sania Mirza had a legendary two-decade-long career
Mirza achieved historic heights no Indian woman ever has in tennis. She peaked at World No.27 in singles, the highest from her country in the WTA ever, and has one WTA singles title to her name. She reached the fourth round of the 2005 US Open, losing to Maria Sharapova. No Indian, male or female, has repeated this feat since in singles. The South Asian nation has yet to have a WTA player even come close to emulating her.
Sania Mirza shifted her focus to doubles around the turn of the last decade and found immense success. She won six doubles Grand Slam titles, three each in women’s and mixed. She also reached World No. 1 in doubles in 2015, after winning the Wimbledon and the US Open with Martina Hingis that year. Her association with the Swiss icon, dubbed ‘Santina’, took the women’s doubles world by storm. They embarked on a 41-match winning streak in 2015-16, just three short of the record in women’s doubles.
Mirza has also won many laurels for India and is one of the most celebrated female sportspersons in the country. The 1.4-billion-strong country continues its search for the next Sania Mirza but is yet to find a name that can match up to her legacy.
