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Sania Mirza Creates Tennis History, Climbs To Top Of Doubles Ranking

Sania Mirza Creates Tennis History, Climbs To Top Of Doubles Ranking
Sania Mirza, left, of India, celebrates with her teammate, Martina Hingis, of Switzerland, after defeating Alla Kudryavtseva and Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova during a doubles final match at the Family Circle Cup tennis tournament Sunday, April 12, 2015, in Charleston, S.C. Mirza and Hingis won 6-0, 6-4. (AP Photo/Mic Smith)
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Sania Mirza, left, of India, celebrates with her teammate, Martina Hingis, of Switzerland, after defeating Alla Kudryavtseva and Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova during a doubles final match at the Family Circle Cup tennis tournament Sunday, April 12, 2015, in Charleston, S.C. Mirza and Hingis won 6-0, 6-4. (AP Photo/Mic Smith)

Sania Mirza became the first Indian to climb to the top of the WTA doubles ranking after she teamed up with Swiss great Martina Hingis to claim the Family Circle Cup title.

The 28-year-old won her third successive doubles title with Hingis, following triumphs in Indian Wells and Miami, to achieve the top ranking milestone.

"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 honoured to be No.1, it's something that I've worked for all my life," Mirza said in a statement.

"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."

Wow.. What a day it's been πŸ˜ƒ number 1 in the world.. It just sunk in 😳 πŸ’ƒπŸ’ͺπŸ‘Š

β€” Sania Mirza (@MirzaSania) April 13, 2015

I hav so many people to thank but first and foremost I want to thank God πŸ˜‡ I feel so so blessed ..

β€” Sania Mirza (@MirzaSania) April 13, 2015

I wanna thank my family,my loved ones,friends,my coaches over then years,my partners and u guys who believed in me and supported me-

β€” Sania Mirza (@MirzaSania) April 13, 2015

All these years..this is a dream come true and I dedicate this back to u guys 😘 I also wanna thank the ppl who didn't believe in me-

β€” Sania Mirza (@MirzaSania) April 13, 2015

You just pushed me harder and made me more determined to fulfil my dreams.. 😏

β€” Sania Mirza (@MirzaSania) April 13, 2015

I am humbled to be the first woman who has achieved this and I strive to keep working hard for as long as I play.. A big hug to all of you 😘

β€” Sania Mirza (@MirzaSania) April 13, 2015

One last thing I'd like to tell all the young girls-BELIEVE- believe in yourself so strongly that the world can't help but believe in u too.

β€” Sania Mirza (@MirzaSania) April 13, 2015

Mirza had once been tipped for success as a singles player after she became the first Indian to win a WTA singles title in 2005. She followed up her success in her hometown of Hyderabad by reaching the fourth round of the U.S. Open in 2005 and two years later broke into the top 30.

But from then on her singles career went into freefall, with injuries taking a toll.

On the doubles court, however, her career prospered as she became the first Indian woman to claim a grand slam title when she partnered Mahesh Bhupathi to the 2009 Australian Open mixed doubles crown.

When the new WTA rankings are released on Monday, Mirza's run of winning 14 successive doubles matches with Hingis will see her leapfrog Italians Sara Errani and Roberta Vinci at the top of the standings.

"It is a truly remarkable accomplishment for Sania Mirza to become the first Indian woman to reach the WTA World No.1 doubles ranking," WTA Chairman and CEO Stacey Allaster said.

"Sania has attained many milestones throughout her successful career and this achievement is a fitting recognition of her talent, dedication and success.

"I am sure Sania will continue to create history and inspire our ever-growing fan base in India and the wider Asia-Pacific region."

Only three other Asian women have achieved the top WTA doubles ranking: Japan's Ai Sugiyama, China's Peng Shuai and Taiwan's Hsieh Su-wei.

Leander Paes and Bhupathi are the only other Indians to achieve number one rankings in tennis when they dominated men's doubles in the late 1990s.

An excellent accomplishment @MirzaSania! Congrats on being World Number 1 in doubles.

β€” Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) April 12, 2015

Congratulations @MirzaSania on becoming World No. 1 in doubles tennis! Keep it up!

β€” Anandiben Patel (@anandibenpatel) April 13, 2015

@MirzaSania congrats Sania/you are at the top of the world!!πŸ’πŸ‘πŸΏπŸ‘πŸΏπŸ‘πŸΏ

β€” Nagarjuna Akkineni (@iamnagarjuna) April 13, 2015

what great news to fet 1st thing in the morning!!! @MirzaSania way to go babyyyyyπŸ˜˜πŸ‘πŸŽ‰

β€” Farah Khan (@TheFarahKhan) April 13, 2015

Hats off to the outstanding @MirzaSania for attaining world number one ranking in one of the toughest, competitive, gruelling sport of all.

β€” Sanjay Jha (@JhaSanjay) April 12, 2015

Pride of India - world No1 @MirzaSania - huge achievement-big congratulations my friend - hugs

β€” Riteish Deshmukh (@Riteishd) April 12, 2015

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This article exists as part of the online archive for HuffPost India, which closed in 2020. Some features are no longer enabled. If you have questions or concerns about this article, please contact indiasupport@huffpost.com.