Star of India breaks a mold
Sania Mirza’s dress, play and attitude defy role of Muslim woman
By Neil Schmidt
Enquirer contributor
http://news.cincinnati.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050719/SPT/507190379/-1/CINCI
The Enquirer/Michael E. Keating
Adorned with multiple piercings, Sania Mirza, 18, is a tennis sensation in her native India. She plays seventh-seeded Anna-Lena Groenefeld today in the Western & Southern Financial Group Women’s Open in Mason.
MASON - She calls herself a devout Muslim, praying five times a day. Yet she also has the trappings of teen attitude: nine earrings, Eminem on her iPod and a pink T-shirt that reads, “Well-behaved women rarely make history.”
Sania Mirza is making history, all right.
At 18, she is already India’s most accomplished female tennis player ever. She has fielded congratulatory phone calls from Indian politicians, been offered as many as 18 sponsorship deals in a week and enlisted a security detail around her family home in Hyderabad.
Mirza, who is a Muslim athlete in a predominantly Hindu country, has raised her world ranking from No. 206 in January to No. 70. She reached the third round of the Australian Open, the furthest an Indian woman had gone in a Grand Slam event, and became the first such player to win a WTA Tour singles title when she took her hometown tournament in February.
She debuts here today in the Western & Southern Financial Group Women’s Open, facing Anna-Lena Groenefeld about 5 p.m.
Indians recently voted Mirza second in a poll for the country’s Youth Icon, behind Bollywood star Shah Rukh Khan. Another poll surveyed the nation’s most popular athletes; she finished third and was the only woman in the top 10.
“In India, every sentence I (say) is analyzed 10 times,” she said. “So there’s a lot of pressure. But you enjoy it. … This is what I opted for.”
Mirza defies those who question her commitment to her religion on the basis of her participation in a sport that relies so heavily on femininity. Islamic robes and head scarves would be impractical on this circuit.
“I know what I’m doing right and what I’m doing wrong, and it’s (between) me and my God,” she said. “I know for a fact that if I stop playing tennis, you won’t see me roaming around in a miniskirt for no reason.”
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