It is very satisfying to be bracketed with legends: Sania

After achieving the rare feat of being the World No. 1 in women’s doubles for 80 consecutive weeks, Indian tennis star Sania Mirza today said it was very satisfying to be bracketed with legends such as Martina Navratilova, Cara Black and Liezel Huber, who have had a longer stint at the top.

“For me, this has been an unbelievable journey and the kind of stuff that dreams are made of! I’ve always felt that reaching the pinnacle in any sphere of activity is a huge achievement but staying there for a prolonged period is even more difficult than getting there for the first time,” she told in an interview.

“The fact that only 3 legends of the women’s game - Navratilova, Black and Huber - have had a longer consecutive stint at the top in the history of women’s doubles tennis makes it even more satisfying for me,” she added.She became the first Indian woman to hold the number one ranking last season after winning the Volvo Car Open in Charleston with her former partner Martina Hingis.Tennis legend Navratilova was number one for 181 consecutive weeks, followed by Cara Black (145 weeks) and Liezel Huber (134 weeks).

Sania’s journey towards the Number one began in 2014 when she teamed up with Cara Black and the duo went on to win the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore. Sania later partnered with Martina and the team ‘SanTina’ won their first 14 matches together.