Sania Mirza bestowed with Padma Bhushan

Mirza has been on a scintillating run of form since pairing up with Martina Hingis in the doubles last year. The Indo-Swiss pair have lifted 11 titles since then, including two Grand Slams. They also won 41 matches in a row and fell just short of eclipsing Jana Novotna and Natasha Zvereva's 44-match winning streak – which is the second highest after 109-match record held by Martina Navratilova and Pam Shriver.

Padma Bhushan is the third highest civilian award in India, after Bharat Ratna and Padma Vibhushan. Sania has now joined the likes of Rahul Dravid, Mary Kom, Leander Paes, Pullela Gopichand, Vishwanathan Anand and Abhinav Bindra, in the long list of legends of Indian sports who have been awarded this honour.

Mirza has already received the Arjuna Award (2004) and the Padma Shri (2006). Last year she was bestowed with the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award, and she has now added another feather to her dazzling cap.