Sania Mirza just lately performed her final Grand Slam match as she bowed out of the Australian Open after dropping within the last of the blended doubles class with compatriot Rohan Bopanna. The 36-year-old Mirza, considered India’s biggest ladies’s tennis participant, returned to Melbourne Park for one final hurrah and made all of it the way in which to the decider. But she and 42-year-old Bopanna have been unable to recover from the road, dropping 7-6 (7/2), 6-2 to Brazilian pair Luisa Stefani and Rafael Matos.

Mirza was in tears within the post-match presentation ceremony. “Rohan was my first-ever mixed-doubles partner at (aged) 14 and we won the nationals,” mentioned Mirza, a six-time Grand Slam champion, three in doubles and three in blended. “It was a long time ago, 22 years ago, and I couldn’t think of a better person — he’s one of my best friends and best partners — to finish my career here and to play the final. There’s no better place for me, or person for me, to finish my Grand Slam career.”

After the match, celebrities from numerous spheres congratulates Sania on her superb profession. One particular message got here from Hindi movie actor Kajol.  “You have always made India and women everywhere look up to you.. and you always will. @MirzaSania,” she wrote on Twitter.

To which, Sania replied: “Thank you so very much reading your msg as I am watching Kabhi khushi kabhi gham for the the 100th time.”

The interplay has gone viral.

Thank you so very a lot studying your msg as I’m watching Kabhi khushi kabhi gham for the the a centesimal time https://t.co/Q9rdZTODet

— Sania Mirza (@MirzaSania) January 29, 2023

Mirza, who’s married to former Pakistan cricket captain Shoaib Malik, has a younger son Izhaan and mentioned it was unimaginable to play in entrance of him in a significant last.

Thank you https://t.co/Di5ZBBWFOb

— Sania Mirza (@MirzaSania) January 29, 2023

“I never thought that I would be able to play in front of my child in a Grand Slam final, so it’s truly special to have my four-year-old and my parents here,” she mentioned.

Mirza, often called a feisty convention-breaker, was the primary Indian to win a WTA singles title, in 2005 at her hometown Hyderabad.

She reached the fourth spherical of the US Open the identical 12 months and by 2007 was among the many ladies’s high 30.

Thank you a lot you’re the kindest https://t.co/gFfGQXwvCJ

— Sania Mirza (@MirzaSania) January 29, 2023

But a wrist damage brought on her to focus on doubles, forging a partnership with Swiss nice Martina Hingis which produced three Grand Slam titles.

Thank you’re keen on https://t.co/eNghpfnFF6

— Sania Mirza (@MirzaSania) January 29, 2023

She is because of retire from all tennis after a event subsequent month in Dubai, the place she has lived for greater than a decade and just lately launched a tennis academy.

With AFP inputs

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