Sania Mirza bids farewell to tennis after first round defeat at Dubai Duty Free Championships

Dubai, Feb 21 (IANS) Indian tennis star Sania Mirza on Tuesday ended her magnificent 20-year-long career with a defeat in the first round of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships, here.

The 36-year-old India legend lost in straight sets along with American partner Madison Keys in women's doubles tie. The pair went 4-6 0-6 down to Russian pair of Veronika Kudermetova and Liudmila Samsonova in one hour long battle.

A mother to 4-year-old boy Izhaan, Mirza, who had turned pro back in 2003, ended her glorious career with six Grand Slam trophies.

Three of those came in women's doubles with Swiss great Martina Hingis. The other three were in mixed doubles, two of which were with compatriot Mahesh Bhupathi - 2009 Australian Open and 2012 French Open - while the other one was a US Open trophy with Bruno Soares.

Earlier last month, Sania was denied a fairytale ending to her Grand Slam career after she lost in the Australian Open mixed doubles final with Rohan Bopanna.