6 times tennis ace Sania Mirza made India proud in Grand Slam circuit

Sania Mirza's decision to hang her boots came after the Round 1 defeat in the women's doubles at the ongoing Australian Open on Wednesday.

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Indian tennis ace Sania Mirza has announced her plan to retire from the sport at the end of the 2022 season. The decision to hang her boots came after the Round 1 defeat in the women's doubles at the ongoing Australian Open on Wednesday. The 35-year-old tennis star and her Ukrainian partner Nadiia Kichenok went down 4-6, 6-7 against Tamara Zidansek and Kaja Juvan at Melbourne Park today.

Pointing out that recovery time is getting slower with age, Sania Mirza said that her body is wearing down, and given the current pandemic situation, travelling will also put her 3-year-old son at risk. "I want to play the full season; I'm still 50-60 in the world. I played nine tournaments last year. I think I have the level to play; it's not about that. As an athlete, I think I can go deep into tournaments," Mirza said after the contest on Court 5 at Melbourne Park.

Currently ranked 68th in the world, Sania Mirza is a former World No.1 in doubles and attained a career-best ranking of 27 in singles. Mirza, who won several laurels for the country at the international level, has clinched six Grand Slams in her career. Here's a look back at her Grand Slam winning journey.

In 2009, Sania Mirza partnered with Indian tennis ace Mahesh Bhupati to clinch the Australian Open mixed doubles title, becoming the first-ever Indian woman to win a Grand Slam. The duo defeated France's Nathalie Dechy and Israel's Andy Ram 6-3, 6-1 in the finals at Melbourne Park.

In 2012, Sania Mirza along with partner Mahesh Bhupati won the French Open mixed doubles title after defeating Klaudia Jans-Ignacik and Santiago Gonzalez 7-6, 6-1 at Roland Garros.

Sania Mirza continued her brilliant run in 2012 when she captured her third Grand Slam mixed doubles title after winning the US Open crown with Brazilian partner Bruno Soares. Mirza and Soares had defeated American Abigail Spears and Mexico's Santiago Gonzalez 6-1, 2-6, 11-9.

In 2015, Sania Mirza and Switzerland's Martina Hingis defeated the then second-seeded Russian pair of Elena Vesnina and Ekaterina Makarova 5-7, 7-6(4), 7-5 to script their first Grand Slam as a team. While Sania Mirza became the first Indian woman to secure her maiden All-England title, it was Hingis' first Wimbledon title since winning the ladies singles title way back in 1997.

Sania Mirza and Martina Hingis played some flawless tennis in 2015 and their dream run continued at the Flushing Meadows, where they won the US Open women's doubles title. The duo won their second Grand Slam doubles title together, defeating Casey Dellacqua and Yaroslava Shvedova in the final, 6–3, 6–3.

On January 29, 2016, Sania Mirza and Martina Hingis clinched their third Grand Slam together after winning the Australian Open title in the women's doubles category. The top-seeded Indo-Swiss pair defeated the seventh-seeded Czech duo Andrea Hlavackova and Lucie Hradecka 7-6 (1), 6-3 at the Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne.

Sania Mirza has also been bestowed with several honours. In 2005, she was named one of the ’50 Heroes of Asia’ by Time. In 2016, Time Magazine also named her in their list of the 100 most influential people in the world. Meanwhile, the Government of India has also honoured her with a host of prestigious awards - Arjuna Award (2004), Padma Shri (2006), Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna (2015) and Padma Bhushan (2016).