Sania Mirza becomes first Indian to be nominated for Fed Cup Heart Award

Indian tennis star Sania Mirza on Thursday became the first Indian to be nominated for the Fed Cup Heart Award from the Asia/Oceania zone along with Indonesia's Priska Medelyn Nugrorho.

Sania had recently made a comeback to Fed Cup after four years.

With her 18-month son Izhaan present in the stands, Sania had helped India qualify for the Play-offs for the first time.

"Stepping on to the court for the first time in India colours was a moment of pride for me, back in 2003. It has been an eighteen year long journey since then and I feel extremely proud and privileged to have contributed to the success of Indian tennis," Sania was quoted as saying in an AITA release.

"The Fed Cup result at the Asia/Oceania tournament last month is one of the greatest achievements of my playing career. These are the moments an athlete plays for and I am grateful to the Fed Cup Heart Awards selection panel for this recognition," added the 33-year-old.

The winners of the Heart Awards will be determined by online voting by fans which will go live on May 1 and will go on until May 8.

In Fed Cup Heart Award's 11th edition this year, Anett Kontaveit (Estonia) and Eleonora Molinaro (Luxembourg) have been nominated from Europe/Africa zone while Fernanda Contreras Gomez of Mexico and Paraguay's Veronica Cepede Royg have been nominated from the Americas.