7 reasons why it has been a terrific year for Sania Mirza

As Sania Mirza celebrates her 30th birthday today, here's a look back to these great 12 months in the life of this ferocious talent.

1. Sania was the numero uno player all through 2016, the first time in her career after taking the top spot in April 2015. Her entire run now comprises a staggering 84 consecutive weeks at the top. She is fourth on the list of most consecutive weeks spent at the top in women's tennis doubles.

2. Sania has managed to retain her year-end World No 1 in women's tennis doubles ranking for the second year in a row. As they say, clinching the number one title is way easier than retaining it. And, the Indian seems to be doing a swell job at that.

3. Despite breaking her most successful doubles partnership with the Swiss counterpart Martina Hingis and one of the most dominant partnerships women's doubles tennis has seen recently, Sania bounced back almost immediately with Barbora Strycova, winning 3 out of the 6 tournaments played (one win with Monica Niculescu) and reached the final of another event. This year's journey has been incredibly satisfying for her as Sania seems to have realised that with the right partner she can keep her golden streak going.

4. Sania won overall eight titles with three different partners in 2016, including her third women's doubles Grand Slam trophy at the Australian Open with Martina.

5. The year 2016 will also be remembered as the year which saw a part of the Sania-Martina unbeaten streak of a whopping 41 matches. This spell began in September 2016 at the US open, from where the duo went on to win nine straight titles. It was the third longest period in the history of women's tennis doubles.-

6. Sania released her autobiography in July titled Ace Against Odds, co-written by her father Imran Mirza and this sports journalist. This was her first attempt not at just sharing anecdotes from the struggle of the initial years in her professional career before tasting overwhelming success and fame, but also setting a few controversies straight.

7. Sania was also listed in the Time 100, Time magazine's list of 100 most influential people in the world in 2016.

Also read - 6 reasons to love Sania Mirza