Sania Mirza has bowed out of international Tennis. The Indian player competed in her last international match in the Mixed Doubles Finals of the Australian Open.
After the match, Mirza got pretty emotional as she summed up her journey so far. The Indian star played her last match at the Road Laver Arena on Friday after the Mixed Doubles final. She bids farewell with 6 Grand Slam titles to her credit.
The Indian Tennis superstar and her compatriot Rohan Bopanna lost 6-7, 2-6 to the Brazilian pair of Luisa Stefani and Rafael Matos in the Mixed Doubles Final. Interestingly Rohan Bopanna was her partner in her first Mixed Doubles match which Sania played at the age of 14. Currently, Sania Mirza is 36 years old and Bopanna is 42 years old.
While speaking to the audience Sania Mirza said:
Disclaimer, if I cry it is happy tears, I don't want to take the moment away from Matos-Stefani who deserved this. I've had the privilege to come back here again and again, win some tournaments, and play some great finals. The Rod Laver Arena has been special in my life and I couldn’t think of a better arena to conclude my career at a Grand Slam.
The 36-year-old made her first Grand Slam appearance 18 years ago in Melbourne. Unfortunately, she was beaten in the singles draw by the 2005 champion Serena Williams in a third-round match. Sania Mirza's career has come full circle as she started and ended her journey in Melbourne. Mirza has six major titles to her name (three in women's doubles and three in mixed doubles). In her short career, Mirza has registered wins over Svetlana Kuznetsova, Vera Zvonareva, and Marion Bartoli, as well as former world number ones Martina Hingis, Dinara Safina, and Victoria Azarenka.
