Sania Mirza Hints Retirement After Her Pioneering Journey
Sania Mirza is a trailblazer who has paved the way for generations of Indian women to reach the pinnacle of their sport. She’s always done things her way when it comes to tennis: hard-hitting, free-flowing, and unconcerned. The 35-year-old has chosen that her playing career will end at the end of this season. She’ll do it on her terms. Mirza made the news after losing in the first round of the Australian Open on Wednesday.
Sania Mirza, India’s first female tennis superstar, announced her retirement on Wednesday, announcing she will retire after the 2022 season. The world-famous tennis star, who is regarded as a hero by many, announced after losing in the first round of the Australian Open’s women’s doubles tournament and stated that she believes her rehabilitation is taking a bit longer as she gets older.
A long list of achievements
Six-time Grand Slam champion, World No. 1 doubles player, 43-time tour winner, only Indian woman to make it into the top 30 within singles, plus two-time Asian Games gold medalist. These are the statistics that top the list of accomplishments, but it was clear that Mirza was destined for greatness even as a teenager.
This is a style that’s never been seen before in an Indian women’s tennis player, and it lets her challenge and defeat the greatest in the globe, including Hingis (former singles No. 1). In 2006 alone, she defeated former No. 2 Svetlana Kuznetsova and former No. 3 Nadia Petrova. She’d achieve her career-high of No. 27 in the world a year later.
She had already become the first Indian to achieve a tour title within 2005 when she won the WTA tournament in her hometown of Hyderabad.
End of an era
From 2017 until 2020, she was out of the game due to an injury, before returning in 2020 after giving birth to her first child and winning her first competition back within Hobart. She’s climbed back to 68th within the globe in doubles. However, she’s no longer interested in competing for the sake of it. And rightfully so. Because now is the moment to honour her accomplishments throughout her career.