What is Sania Mirza’s record in Tokyo?

The renovated Ariake Coliseum will host the tennis event of Tokyo 2020 Olympics, which begin on July 23.

Indian ace Sania Mirza, who will lead the country’s three-member contingent at Tokyo 2020, has had her share of success at the stadium. Even though she has played only once in singles at the Pan Pacific Open, which has been a regular event on the WTA calendar, Mirza has won three titles in women’s doubles in Tokyo.

All of her titles have come when Ariake Coliseum was still the venue for the Pan Pacific Open. Historically, hard courts, which will be used during the Olympics, has been Mirza’s most successful surface.

The 34-year-old will be competing in her fourth Olympic Games, having made her debut at the Beijing Games in 2008. She will team up with India’s top-ranked doubles player Ankita Raina in the women’s doubles event at Tokyo 2020. India will also feature in the men's singles draw as Sumit Nagal made the cut for the mega-event on July 16.

Here’s how Mirza has fared in Tokyo:

How did Sania Mirza fare in singles at Tokyo?

Ranked No 65 in the world at the time, Mirza had to qualify for the singles draw in 2009.

She defeated local player Rika Fujiwara 6-4, 6-0 in the opening round of qualifiers. The Indian made the main draw by edging past World No 88 Viktoriya Kutuzova 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 in the second round.

However, Mirza’s run came to an end in the first round as she went down 7-5, 2-6, 3-6 to World No 32 Jie Zheng.

How did Sania Mirza fare in doubles at Tokyo?

The first of three doubles titles for Mirza, at the Pan Pacific Open, came in 2013 while partnering Zimbabwe’s Cara Black. The duo knocked out top seeds Su-Wei Hsieh and Shuai Peng in the semi-final. They fought back from a set down in the final to beat Hao-Ching Chan and Liezel Huber 4-6, 6-0, 11-9 and clinch the title.

Mirza and Black defended their title in 2014. The top seeds defeated Spanish singles stars Garbine Muguruza and Carla Suarez Navarro 6-2, 7-5 in the final. They had also overcome the Swiss dream team of Martina Hingis and Belinda Bencic in the quarterfinals.

Mirza had teamed up with Barbora Strycova for the 2016 edition. The pair has to battle it out in the first three matches, two of which were decided by the match tie-break. But it was smooth sailing in the final. Mirza-Strycova, seeded second, beat China’s Liang Chen and Zhaoxuan Yang 6-1, 6-1 to claim the title.

The only other time that Mirza featured in the doubles draw was in 2012, when she lost in the opening round while playing with Spain’s Nuria Llagostera Vives.