Indian tennis star Sania Mirza, along with her Croatian partner Mate Pavic, faces second-seeded British-American pair of Neal Skupski and Desirae Krawczyk in the mixed doubles semifinal at Wimbledon on Wednesday.
This is already the best performance in the mixed doubles category at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club (AELTC) for Sania, who had previously reached the quarterfinals in 2011, 2013 and 2015.
The Indian, who is set to retire at the end of this season, has one final chance to achieve a Career Slam in mixed doubles. Sania, along with compatriot Mahesh Bhupathi, won the mixed doubles titles at 2009 Australian Open and 2012 French Open before going all the way at the 2014 US Open with Bruno Soares of Brazil.
Here's how Sania Mirza has fared at Wimbledon through the years:-
2001-03: Junior Championships
Sania Mirza first played at the AELTC as a 14-year-old during the 2001 Wimbledon Junior Championships where she reached the second round in singles while exiting from girls' doubles in the opening round. In 2003, Sania became the first Indian female tennis player to win a Grand Slam at any level when she, along with Russia's Alisa Kleybanova, clinched the girls' doubles title with a 2-6, 6-3, 6-2 win over the pair of Katerina Bohmova of Czech Republic and Michaela Krajicek of the Netherlands.
2005-10: Senior level debut, mixed doubles with Mahesh Bhupathi
Sania made her senior level debut at Wimbledon in 2005. The Indian, who was the then world number 75, beat Japan’s Akiko Morigami 6-3, 3-6, 8-6 in the opening round before losing to 5th-seeded Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova 4-6, 7-6 (4), 4-6 in the next match.
Three years later, Sania was seeded 32nd and came the closest she has ever been to making it to the third round. She defeated Columbian Catalina Castano 7-6 (3), 3-6, 6-4 in the first round. In the round of 64, she squandered four match points in a 0-6, 6-4, 7-9 loss to Spanish qualifier Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez.
During the above mentioned period, Sania's best performance in women's doubles came in 2008. American Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Sania were seeded 13th and pretty much cruised through the first three rounds. However, in the quarterfinals, they were up against the Williams sisters, Venus and Serena, who beat them 6-4, 6-3.
In mixed doubles, she teamed up with compatriot Mahesh Bhupathi, the first Indian to win a Grand Slam, for three consecutive years. The Mirza-Bhupathi pair entered the 2009 Wimbledon having won the Australian Open earlier that year but at the AELTC, they crashed out in the third round after a 2-6, 7-6 (2), 3-6 loss to top seeds Leander Paes and Cara Black.
2011-14: Last appearance in singles, doubles semifinals with Vesnina
Struggles with wrist injuries meant that Sania's 6-7 (4), 6-2, 3-6 loss to Frenchwoman Virginie Razzano in the first round was her final appearance in singles at Wimbledon in 2011. At the same edition, the Indo-Russian duo of Sania and Elena Vesnina was seeded fourth. Sania and Vesnina had reached the French Open final few weeks earlier but at the AELTC, the pair was defeated 3-6, 1-6 by eventual champions Kveta Peschke and Katarina Srebotnik in the semifinals.
In 2012, Sania and Mattek-Sands suffered their second defeat at the hands of Williams sisters, this time in the third round. However, having won the mixed doubles crown at French Open, Sania and Bhupathi were favourites for Wimbledon title. The fifth-seeded pair, given a bye in the opening round, was instead knocked out in the second round after a straight sets defeat.
2015-17: Women's Doubles title with Martina Hingis
Ten years after her main draw debut, Sania finally tasted success at Wimbledon in 2015. Sania and Swiss legend Martina Hingis were the top seeds in women's doubles and they justified it as team 'Santina' clinched the title while dropping just one set in six matches.
The following year, the Indian entered both doubles categories as the top seed but she could neither defend her women's doubles title with Hingis nor make a deep run with Croatia's Ivan Dodig in the mixed doubles.
2021-22: Comeback after maternity leave, best performance in mixed doubles
After missing the 2018 season due to knee injury and 2019 due to maternity leave, Sania returned to professional tennis in 2020. However, her much-awaited return to Wimbledon was postponed by a year as the COVID-19 pandemic meant that The Championships had to be cancelled for the first time in history.
In 2021, playing at her first Wimbledon in four years, Sania paired up again with Mattek-Sands in women’s doubles but lost to the all-Russian duo of her former partner Vesnina and Veronika Kudermetova in the second round. In mixed doubles, Sania and Bopanna suffered a heartbreaking 3-6, 6-3, 9-11 defeat at the hands of Jean-Julien Rojer and Andreja Klepac in the third round.
The ongoing edition has seen her achieve her best result in mixed doubles. Sania, along with her Croatia's Mate Pavic, beat the fourth-seeded Canadian-Australian duo of Gabriela Dabrowski and John Peers 6-4, 3-6, 7-5 to reach her first-ever semifinal at The Championships.
At the same time, the Indian has also experienced her earliest exit from women’s doubles at the AELTC. Sania and Czech Republic’s Lucie Hradecka, sixth-seeded team, lost 6-4, 4-6, 2-6 to the scratch pairing of Brazil’s Beatriz Haddad Maia and Poland’s Magdalena Frech in the opening round.
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