Indian tennis icon Sania Mirza ended her history-defining 20-year-long career with a first-round defeat in her final tennis tournament at Dubai Duty Free Tennis Stadium in Garhoud on Tuesday.
Six-time GrandSlam winner Mirza and her American partner Madison Keys lost the match in straight sets 4-6 0-6 to the Russian duo of Veronika Kudermetova and Liudmila Samsonova in women’s doubles first round match.
Sania had recently announced her retirement from tennis and this was the last match of her professional career.
36-year-old Sania, who turned Pro in 2003, ends her Tennis career with six Grand Slam titles, including three women’s doubles with Swiss legend Martina Hingis.
On January 13, 2023, Sania had written a three-page note to announce that WTA Dubai Duty Free Championships would be her Tennis career’s last tournament. Sadly, she was knocked out from the event in the first round itself.
In Women’s doubles event of Australia Open, Sania was eliminated in the second round itself. She broke down in tears after losing the final in mixed doubles event in her final Grand Slam appearance.
Sania won 43 WTA titles in her career, including three Grand Slam titles in the women’s doubles category.
Earlier this year in January, Sania and her partner Rohan Bopanna reached final in the mixed doubles event of Australian Open, where they lost to formidable Brazilian pair of Luisa Stefani and Rafael Matos by 6-7, 2-6 in Melbourne.
