Sania Mirza ends her career
Sania Mirza concludes her career with 6 Grand Slam victories and a total of 43 titles. The former number one in the doubles world rankings has not only left a legacy in India.
by Victoria Moser
last edit:
Feb 27, 2023, 07:32 pm
Last week, Indian Sania Mirza ended her official season on the WTA Tour in Dubai, where she has lived for ten years and has also opened two tennis academies (her first academy opened in her birthplace Hyderabad in India in 2013). She first picked up a racquet at the age of six after being inspired by her cousins' tennis game in America.
India is not the most fertile ground for tennis players. Nevertheless, she had her first training on fertile surface – namely on cow dung. On the way to her successful tennis career, she was able to inspire many people with her story and was crowned the queen of Indian tennis. "As women, instead of supporting us to pursue our dreams, we are presented with a long list of things we can't do," she said.
achievements and legacy
With her father's support and a home tournament win at eight, where she beat a player twice her age, she proved she was ready for the big stage. At eighteen she won the junior women's doubles title at Wimbledon. On the WTA singles tour, she reached the round of eight at the 2005 US Open and her best ranking was 27th (2007). From 2013 she focused entirely on doubles.
In total she was able to win 6 Grand Slam tournaments, three of them in mixed doubles, and win 43 titles. As a result, she was number one in doubles rankings for 91 weeks and is considered one of the best doubles players of all time. She was coached by Martina Hingis for two years and the two are considered the third-best coach-player team in history (41 matches won in a row). With her career, she was able to inspire many women in particular, which she said was more important than her victories and defied cultural and social norms.