Sania Mirza nets Rs 2 crore in 2 months from Telangana government

Sania Mirza

Hyderabad: India's tennis ace Sania Mirza has earned a cool Rs 2 crore from the Telangana government within a short span of less than two months.

On Thursday, Sania Mirza was rewarded with Rs 1 crore by the newly-formed state's chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao for winning the US Open mixed doubles title in New York last weekend. Mirza and her Brazilian partner Bruno Soares beat USA's Abigail Spears and Mexican Santiago Gonzalez 6-1, 2-6, 11-9 in the final at Flushing Meadows.

Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao felicitates tennis star Sania Mirza with a cheque of Rs 1 crore in Hyderabad on Thursday.

Interestingly, Mirza and Soares' shared US Open prize cheque of USD 150,000 (approximately Rs 91 lakh) would have seen each player earn less than half (approx Rs 45 lakh) of Telanagana's prize purse for Mirza.

Less than two months ago, on July 22, Mirza was appointed brand ambassador of Telangana and urged to promote the state's interests in India and abroad. Here too the 27-year-old Hyderabadi was presented with a cheque of Rs 1 crore.

"Sania, who is the brand ambassador for Telangana, met chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao, where he appreciated her for winning the title and wished that she wins the upcoming China Open and Japan Open as well," a release from the Telangana CM's office said on Thursday.

The CM has urged Sania to make Telangana popular in her capacity as its brand ambassador and also promote the image of Hyderabad as she is a "child of Hyderabad", according to the media release.

In reply, Sania said she is working towards trying to bring the new state on the world map.

"I would like to thank him (Rao) very much for this felicitation. He told me he was very proud. I think we are working together to try and bring Telangana on the world map. I would like thank him very much for this gesture and also thank him very much for his trust in me," the release quoted Sania as saying.