Sania goes shopping3

Muslim clerics threatened to issue a fatwa against Sania for wearing short skirts during her matches last year.

But such was her appeal in India that the controversy died down soon as the clerics were overwhelmed by national contempt.

Sania, who struggled to find backers during her earlier years in the game, signed up many endorsements after her success (she was the first Indian woman to reach the fourth round of a Grand Slam tournament at the 2005 US Open).

At one point she was considered a serious challenger to Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid in the endorsement sweepstakes.