Sania Mirza : It's a thrill to be bracketed with legends like Navratilova, Black, and Huber

"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 PTI news agency.

"The fact that only three 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.

Mirza said her team's single-minded focus was the reason behind her success.

"It would be difficult to pinpoint any one reason for whatever I have achieved in my career but single-minded dedication in the right direction from my entire team would be one of the reasons," the 29-year-old said.

She is still a long way from breaking the world record of being the No.1 for consecutive weeks with Navratilova, Black, and Huber still in front of her. Being fourth on the list is an honor in itself for the Indian tennis ace.

"I think those illustrious records are still a long way off and I prefer to focus on each match that I play. But it's a thrill to be bracketed with legends like these three!

"While Martina is probably the greatest women's tennis player ever, Liezel Huber was my partner with whom I won my first WTA title in my hometown of Hyderabad way back in 2004, and Cara was my partner when I won my first ever title in the WTA Finals which is considered by most professionals to be the 'Mother of all Grand Slams' in the year 2014," she added.