Nirupama was born in the Southern Indian town of Coimbatore. She started playing tennis at the age of 5 and was influenced very much by her brother. Her father K.S. Vaidyanathan was a cricketer who had played for Tamil Nadu in Ranji Cricket tournament; he coached her at the start of her career. Her first tennis tournament foray was the National Under 12 tournament, where she reached the semi-final and went on to win her 1st National title in Under 14 age group at the age of 13. One year later in 1991, she won the National Women's title at age 14. She won the National Women's title in 1992–1996.
In 1996, she moved to Luxembourg and she turned professional at the age of 18. She player her first WTA-level tournament in late October 1996, at the SEAT Open. She won two matches in the qualifying stages, before losing to Jana Kandarr. On 17 November 1996, Sanjeev won her first ITF Women's Circuit title, defeating Raluca Sandu in the finals of the $25,000 tournament in Bad Gögging, Germany. Sanjeev played her first Grand Slam tournament at the 1997 Australian Open, where she lost in the second qualifying round to Yuka Yoshida, having overcome Petra Mandula in the previous round.
At the 1998 Australian Open, Sanjeev was awarded a wildcard into the main draw (her first and ultimately the only appearance in a singles Grand Slam main draw). She became the first Indian female in the modern era to feature and win a round at a main draw Grand Slam, beating Italy's Gloria Pizzichini.
2002 saw Sanjeev play only a single tournament due to injury, losing in the US Open qualifying. In 2003, she played exclusively in ITF Women's Circuit tournaments. She went into her first retirement from the sport, losing in the second qualifying round of the ITF $50,000 tournament in Louisville, Kentucky to Petra Rampre, in late-July 2003.
Sanjeev briefly came back to professional tennis in 2009. Playing in her first match in six years, she beat Tamara Curović before losing to Tamarine Tanasugarn in the second round of the ITF $50,000 NECC–ITF Women's Tennis Championships in November, at Pune. Between November 2009 and September 2010, she played in a total of seven ITF tournaments with mixed results. The ITF $25,000 tournament held in Redding, California, would be her last professional tournament in both the disciplines. Her last singles win was against Brianna Morgan in the final qualifying round, and her final match was a loss in round one against Amanda McDowell. In doubles, playing with Ellen Tsay, she won her first round match against Yawna Allen and Brittany Augustine. Her final doubles match would be a loss in the following round, to Megan Falcon and Macall Harkins.
For the past five years, Nirupama has been on the expert commentary team along with Indian tennis legend Vijay Amritraj for ESPN-STAR sports. Nirupama ran a tennis coaching camp in the Bay Area, California until 2024. She launched her autobiography "The Moonballer" in October 2013. Now, She is coaching young players in Florida such as her daughter.[1][2][3][4][5][6]
Personal life
On 23 May 2002, she married Sanjeev Balakrishnan, a software engineer from Bay Area, California; the brother of the Indian sprinter Rajeev Balakrishnan.[citation needed]