Sania Mirza on the verge of World number 1 spot in WTA doubles rankings

Martina Hingis (left) and Sania Mirza (right) with the BNP Paribas Open trophy in Indian Wells

Indian tennis ace Sania Mirza is on the verge of an extraordinary feat as she could become the highest ranked doubles player in the world and the first ever Indian woman player to do so.

The Hyderabadi has had an exceptional month as she captured back-to-back titles at Indian Wells and Miami with her new partner Martina Hingis. The Indo-Swiss pair hasn’t dropped a set in their campaign in the two tournaments. The multiple title wins has helped her to rocket up to world number 3 in the WTA rankings.

The duo is next scheduled to play on the green clay courts of Charleston at the Family Circle Cup. A good performance here could propel Mirza to the top of the rankings. In the latest released WTA rankings, Mirza has 7495 points and trails the joint world number 1s Roberta Vinci and Sara Errani by 145 points. With the Italian pair splitting and concentrating on their singles game, they are bound to drop points as the season goes ahead.

Even if they don’t drop points, the Hyderabadi can secure the number 1 ranking by winning the title in Charleston. This would give Mirza 470 points which would be in her best performances from the previous year considered in the ranking calculations. This would take her to 7660 points, 20 points clear of the current world number 1s.

Mirza-Hingis would face the Rodionova sisters from Australia in the opening round of the clay court event. If they manage to pass the first hurdle, the top seeded duo could face either the all American pairing of Lisa Raymond - Madison Keys or Anabel Medina Garrigues - Yaroslava Shvedova in the quarterfinals.

After the impressive showing of fellow Hyderabadi Saina Nehwal on the badminton court, it appears that the almost similar namesake could also do India proud by reaching the pinnacle of world tennis.