Ever since she has made it big in the world of professional tennis, Sania Mirza has been the cynosure of media and fans.

As a result, she has had a fair share of controversies. Except the initial years after she won the junior Wimbledon and was steadily rising in popularity, the last three years have been tough for the Hyderabadi player who found herself embroiled in one controversy after the other.

In 2005, an Islamic cleric created a stir with the fatwa on her dress. The length of her skirt became a national issue and seminaries were approached for their opinion. The Islamic scholar had said that exposing thighs was against the religious tenets.

The media picked the issue and though Sania didn't enter the debate, it took quite sometime before the controversy died down. Sania got support of majority of Indians and also Muslim organisations of repute appealed that she should be allowed to play, rather than a public discussion over what she should wear or not.

Meanwhile, her ranking kept soaring. The flag controversy was probably the biggest turn off for Sania. It was a trick photograph. The angle showed that Sania's feet were pointed towards the national flag.

Those seeking cheap publicity filed complaints in police and also approached court to seek action on her for dishonor of flag. Flustered by such reactions, Sania decided to stay away from playing in India.

This again led to a major controversy. Even tennis legends like Vijay Amritraj said that she should have played. Many other former players said that her reaction was a bit extreme. But continuous media coverage and a sort of hounding, appears to have pissed of Mirza.

Of course, there have been other incidents. Like her statement of AIDS that was twisted and she had to later issue a clarification that she was not favouring sex before marriage and that she believed in Islamic injunctions on this topic.

[SuperSania.com is a fansite focusing on Indian Tennis star Sania Mirza. An unofficial Sania Mirza website]

20/04/2008