India's first female tennis superstar Sania Mirza Retirement.
New Delhi:Sania and her American partner Madison Keys lost 4-6, 0-6 to the Russian pair of Vernokia Kudermetova and Liudmila Samsonova in an hour at the WTA Dubai event.
The 36-year-old Sania, who turned pro in 2003, walks out of competitive tennis with six grand slam titles, including three women’s doubles with Martina Hingis.
She won two of her three mixed doubles titles with Mahesh Bhupathi (2009 Australian Open and 2012 French Open) and the US Open trophy with Bruno Soares.
In the final match of her career, the breaks were traded at swift pace in the opening set which was locked at 4-4. From there, Kudermetova and Samsonova broke Sania and Keys one more time for a 5-4 lead, placing themselves in a position from where they could serve out the set. They did that quite comfortably, losing one point in the 10th game.
The former women’s doubles world number one was ranked at 28 in the latest Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) rankings. Sania Mirza claimed the world no. 1 spot in the women’s doubles for the first time in April 13, 2005. She remained at the top spot for a total of 91 weeks and is among the few players to remain no. 1 for so long. Her best rank in the singles event was no. 27 in August 2007.
Mirza won six Grand Slam titles and 43 major titles in a career spanning 20 years on the professional tennis circuit.
Year Grand Slam Title
2009 Australian Open Mixed doubles
2012 French Open Mixed doubles
2014 US Open Mixed doubles
2015 Wimbledon Women’s doubles
2015 US Open Women’s doubles
2016 Australian Open Women’s doubles
