Sania Mirza to Retire Next Month At Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships 2023
36-years old veteran Indian Tennis Star Sania Mirza plans to retire in the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships, a WTA 1000 event, beginning February 19.
Six-time major champion, three in doubles and three in mixed doubles and also the former doubles No.1, veteran Indian Tennis star, Sania Mirza admitted that she plans to retire from professional tennis at next month’s Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships. Previously she planned to retire at the end of last season, but an unfortunate injury in the elbow meant she had to end her season early as she was ruled out of the US Open 2022. She is all set to participate in the upcoming Australian Open alongside Kazakhstan’s Anna Danilina. Emma Raducanu Gets Her First Singles Win of 2023 at ASB Classic Beating Linda Fruhvirtova.
The Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships, a WTA 1000 event, begins on February 19. She has been staying in Dubai for the past decade and it drives her to end her glorious career in the Emirates Stadium in front of her home audience. Sania is currently 36 years old and suffering from a persistent calf problem which also forced on her retirement decision. She has a 4-year-old son named Izhaan whom she wants to spend time with and has already launched a tennis academy in Dubai. It operates in three locations and will venture into two more neighborhoods in the coming weeks.
“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 US Open so I had to pull out of everything,” Mirza told wtatennis.com last month in Dubai. “And honestly, the person that I am, I like to do things on my own terms. So, I don’t want to be forced out by injury. So, I’ve been training. The plan is to try and retire in Dubai during the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships".
Recently, in an interview with “Curly Tales Middle East,” Mirza explained why she thought this was the right time, “I’m 36, and honestly my body is beat, that is the main reason for it,” Mirza said. “And I really don’t have the capacity in my mind to emotionally push that much anymore. I turned pro in 2003. Priorities change, and now my priority is not to push my body to the limit every single day. We’re trying to spread and bring tennis to people’s homes, and that’s really the plan,” said Mirza. Martina Navratilova, 66-Year-Old Tennis Legend, Diagnosed With Throat and Breast Cancer.
“I feel like why we don’t have players coming out of the UAE when you have money, you have infrastructure, you have everything, but you don’t have the players?” Mirza said. “There’s a problem somewhere so we’ve got to tap on the problem, whatever it may be, and try to be part of a solution. For me it’s important to share my experience in the places that I live in, that’s why I have one in Hyderabad [since 2013] and one in Dubai.” She added.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jan 06, 2023 11:33 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).