Sania Mirza, India’s first female tennis superstar, announced her retirement plans on Wednesday. It comes following a first-round exit in women’s doubles at the Australian Open. Mirza, 35, and her Ukrainian partner Nadiia Kichenok, seeded 12th, were defeated 4-6, 6-7 by Kaja Juvan and Tamara Zidansek, an unseeded Slovenian pair, in one hour and 36 minutes. Mirza has disclosed that she will retire in 2022. Because her body is ‘worn down’ and she lacks the will and energy to keep up with the daily grind. However, she acknowledged that she will play the current season because she had toiled so hard to get healthy and return. Sania Mirza has accomplished some great heights in her career and to remember those, here are a few top career achievements of tennis superstar Sania Mirza.
Career achievements of tennis superstar Sania Mirza
- Sania Mirza is the only woman from India to have ever won a WTA title. She has won the WTA Finals twice. After a good year in 2014, Sania Mirza and Cara Black won the WTA Finals. The Indian player went on to defend her title at the WTA Finals in 2015 after teaming up with Martina Hingis the following year.
- Three Grand Slam titles in Mixed Doubles: Sania Mirza won the Australian Open (2009) and the French Open (2012) partnering with Mahesh Bhupati, another Indian star. With Brazilian player Bruno Soares, she won her third Slam mixed doubles title at the 2014 US Open, becoming the first-ever Indian woman to win a grand slam of any kind.
- Medals in multi-sports events: She has also competed for India in several international competitions, including the Asian Games, Commonwealth Games, and Olympics. Sania Mirza has won seven medals at the Asian Games, in both the women’s and mixed doubles divisions, in various editions. Her most recent gold was at the 2014 Incheon Games in South Korea. Across all multi-sport events, the Indian athlete has won 14 medals. The country has a total of six gold medals in the collection.
- National Awards: Sania has certainly obtained several national awards for her extraordinary contributions to sports. The Government of India presented her with the Arjuna Award in 2004. The Indian player is also the Padma Shri recipient. Year 2015, she received the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award, which is India’s highest sporting distinction in India. In 2016, the veteran was also granted the Padma Bhushan award. It is India’s third-highest civilian honour.
- World number one: However among Mirza’s many other successes, the fact that she was the first Indian to reach the top of the WTA doubles rankings concretes her place as one of the greats of Indian tennis. On April 12, 2015, Mirza attained the zenith of the WTA doubles rankings.
Sania’s retirement certainly brings the end of an era for tennis in India. Her journey to fame has been a motivating one. And will keep encouraging young females in the sport to overcome difficulties, aim big and achieve new heights.