Sania Mirza, arguably the greatest Indian tennis player of all time, on Sunday, ended her illustrious Tennis career at Hyderabad's Lal Bahadur Stadium, the place where it all began for her. It was nearly two decades ago when Sania announced her arrival on the world stage with a historic WTA singles title win here, in Hyderabad. Since then, Sania's revolutionary journey in sports and as an individual has inspired millions of women in India to take up sports as a career. The 36-year-old finally ends her history-defining 20-year long career with six Grand Slam titles, including three women's doubles with Swiss legend Martina Hingis.
The final match of Sania Mirza's inspiring career, an exhibition match, saw her play a few friendly matches with likes of Rohan Bopanna, Ivan Dodig, Cara Black, her best friend Bethanie Mattek-Sands, and Marion Bartoli. Ex-India star all-rounder Yuvraj Singh, Law Minister Kiren Rijiju and ex-India skipper Mohammad Azharuddin were among those who turned up to watch the exhibition match in Hyderabad.
MC Stan celebrated Sania's career by giving a live performance on the historic occasion in Hyderabad.
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"I am thankful to each and everyone for the kind of send-off given to me today. I couldn’t have asked for a better farewell. It all began here in 2002 when I won medals in the National Games. Then in 2004, I won my first WTA title (doubles). As someone said, it has been a one-handed drive for me. Yes, it has been an honour to represent the country at the highest level for 20 long years," Sania said while struggling to hold her tears.
"It was so difficult for not many to believe in a young kid taking up tennis, more so a girl. But, it was only my parents who believed in me and have been with me right through this journey. Yes, I am going to (…pauses for a long moment wiping off the tears even as the crowds lustily chanted Sania Sania) to miss the game.
"But I can tell you I will be there with the Telangana Government and the Sports Authority of Telangana State to produce another Sania. In fact, we need more and more Sanias and will work for that for sure. These are happy tears. I miss you guys," Sania concluded.