'Believe in yourself', says Sania Mirza after sealing doubles world no. 1 rank

New Delhi: An ecstatic Sania Mirza on Monday shared her excitement and delight at creating history by becoming the world number one in tennis doubles and asked her young fans to believe in themselves strongly.

"I am humbled to be the first woman who has achieved this and I strive to keep working hard for as long as I play.. A big hug to all of you," Sania said on twitter.

"One last thing I'd like to tell all the young girls-BELIEVE- believe in yourself so strongly that the world can't help but believe in u too," she added.

The tennis ace also thanked her family, friends, coaches and supporters who believed in her.

"I wanna thank my family,my loved ones,friends,my coaches over then years,my partners and u guys who believed in me and supported me," Sania said.

"All these years..this is a dream come true and I dedicate this back to u guys ?? I also wanna thank the ppl who didn't believe in me. You just pushed me harder and made me more determined to fulfil my dreams," she added.

Sania and her Swiss partner Martina Hingis achieved the numero uno rankings after beating the Aussie-Croatian pair of Casey Dellacqua and Darija Jurak 6-0, 6-4 on Sunday to win the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) Family Circle Cup.