DUBAI: Tennis Star Sania Mirza confirmed her plans to retire at the WTA 1000 event in Dubai next month. The six-time Grand Slam champion will play her final Major at the Australian Open alongside Kazakhstan’s Anna Danilina.
Mirza had initially planned to hang up her racquet after completing the 2022 season but after injury problems sidelined her in the second half of the year, she decided to delay the decision.
It may be recalled that her father, Imran, had told media last year, after her final appearance at Wimbledon where she narrowly missed out on the mixed doubles final, that bowing out at the WTA Finals – competing with the world’s best – was a fitting way to end her career. Injuries, however, derailed that plan.
A six-time major champion — three in doubles and three in mixed doubles — Mirza has signed up to compete in this month’s Australian Open alongside Kazakhstan’s Anna Danilina.
The India tennis star who has been living in Dubai for more than a decade, will then look to bid farewell to the sport in the Emirates, where she has competed for many years in front of her massive fanbase.
Mirza has been dealing with a lingering calf problem but is hoping it won’t stop her from saying her goodbyes on the match court.
“I was going to stop right after the WTA Finals, because we were going to make the WTA Finals, but I tore my tendon in my elbow right before U.S. Open, so I had to pull out of everything,” Mirza told the WTA Tour’s website in an interview published on Friday.
