page_title: Muslim women in sport
section_title: Tennis
hierarchical_section_title: Muslim women in sport / Professional sports / Tennis
caption_attribution_description: Citi Open Tennis July 30, 2011
context_page_description: Muslim women have been involved in sport since Islam's beginning in the early 7th century and Muhammad's races with his wife Aisha. Modern Muslim female athletes have achieved success in a variety of sports, including volleyball, tennis, association football, fencing, and basketball. In the 2016 Olympics, fourteen Muslim women won medals, participating in a wide range of sports.
  Still, Muslim women are underrepresented in athletic arenas, from school and amateur sports to international competitions. Causes may include cultural or familial pressures, the lack of suitable facilities and programs, and bans on the hijab, the Islamic headscarf. Muslim women have used sports as a means to empowerment, working towards health and wellbeing, women's rights, and education.
context_section_description: Several OIC member states host professional-level tennis tournaments. As of 2016, there are Women's Tennis Association (WTA) Tour events in Malaysia (Malaysian Open, Kuala Lumpur; inaugurated 2010), Morocco (Grand Prix SAR La Princesse Lalla Meryem, Rabat; 2001), Qatar (Qatar Open, Doha; 2001), Turkey (Istanbul Cup; 2005), the United Arab Emirates (Dubai Tennis Championships; 1993), and Uzbekistan (Tashkent Open; 1999). A number of OIC member states are also experiencing rapid economic development and constructing tennis facilities on a previously unprecedented scale.
  Notable Muslim female tennis players include Selima Sfar, Aravane Rezaï, Dinara Safina, Sania Mirza, Ons Jabeur, and Fatma Al-Nabhani. Rezaï, an Iranian-French player, has won four WTA titles and achieved a career-high singles ranking of 15. Primarily a doubles player, Mirza reached a #1 doubles ranking in 2015, winning 40 career titles. She has faced severe criticism from Muslim clerics in her native India, who condemn her decision to wear conventional tennis outfits as "indecent".
caption: Sania Mirza, a former world No. 1 in women's tennis doubles, is an Indian Muslim.
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