Sania Mirza bids farewell to tennis after first round defeat at Dubai Duty Free Championships
Darpan News Desk IANS, 21 Feb, 2023 01:17 PM
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.
Mary Kom could not make the cut for Rio Olympics via the two qualifiers and last-ditch attempts by the IOA and the ad-hoc committee administering boxing in India to fetch her a wildcard entry also fell through after the IOC declined the request
Vikas Krishan entered the semifinals of the AIBA World Qualifying Tournament in Baku, Azerbaijan, to book a Rio berth after out-punching Korea's Lee Dongyun in the quarterfinals 3-0
Mary Kom, who failed to qualify for the Rio Olympics, has gotten backing from the Indian Olympic Association by officially requesting for a wildcard entry in order to get a berth
