Sania Mirza, a trailblazer, gets an almost fitting farewell at her last Grand Slam in 2023 Australian Open

One of India’s most decorated tennis players ever, Sania Mirza has said goodbye to Grand Slams at her favourite Australian Open after losing the mixed doubles finals with Rohan Bopanna on Friday in Melbourne. Bowing out early in the doubles category meant Sania’s last dance was only possible in the mixed doubles event, where she won her first Grand Slam in 2009 with compatriot Mahesh Bhupati. This time playing alongside her old dear friend Bopanna, Sania had hoped for a fitting farewell by winning the match against the Brazilian pair of Luisa Stefani and Rafael Matos, but that didn’t happen the way she would have wanted.

Following a straight-set loss (7-6, 6-2), Sania, holding back her tears, spoke for the one last time at the Grand Slam stage.

“If I cry – these are happy tears, not sad ones,” she said.

When 18-year-old Sania Mirza lived her dream

Having made her Grand Slam debut at the tender age of 18 at Melbourne Park in 2005, Sania won her first two rounds and squared off against the greatest tennis player of all time, USA’s Serena Williams in the third round. Going down to Serena was possibly on the cards but that was one moment that instilled confidence in the Indian ace star and made her realise that she is living her dream and that she is here to stay. After Wednesday’s semifinal win at the ongoing Australian Open, Sania revealed her most special memory and it was this only.

“For me, the most special memory remains playing against Serena (Williams) here when I was 18 years old, even though I lost that match, got blown off the court,” Sania said after her semifinal victoryon Wednesday at the Australian Open.

“Honestly, that was when belief was installed there that this is where I belong and this is where I want to be. Even though Serena won the tournament that year, for me, it made me believe that as a young Indian girl, the dream that I had to play in the slams, try and win them, was something that happened that year for me in 2005,” she added.

2005 when the success story began

That year brought more success as she went on to win the WTA Tour Title – the Hyderabad Open in February, thus becoming the first-ever Indian woman to achieve this feat. Though she lost her second-round match at Wimbledon the same year, by reaching the fourth round of the US Open in September she made history by becoming the first Indian tennis player since Ramesh Krishnan in 1987 to reach this far in a Grand Slam singles category.

Sania’s rise in doubles rankings and more Grand Slam wins

The following two years saw her rise in the women’s singles rankings as in 2007 she was seeded 27th – her best so far. Having claimed several wins in doubles and mixed doubles categories across tournaments in the same year, Sania was nearing her first Grand Slam win. The moment came two years later at the 2009 Australian Open when she was crowned the mixed doubles champion. She went on to repeat her feat at the 2012 French Open and at the US Open two years later in 2014.

Come 2015, Sania was all over the news for her commendable doubles category Slam wins at Wimbledon and the US Open. A few months later at the 2016 Australian Open, she entered the tournament with legendary Martina Hingis as the number one-seeded pair and won her third doubles slam.

While the country was celebrating various women athletes from different sports like MC Mary Kom, Saina Nehwal, and even PV Sindhu by then, with six major titles to her name in doubles and mixed doubles categories, Sania had already cut herself a figure of an established female superstar athlete of India. Her career path had inspired so many young athletes in India and it would be fair to say she was one of the big reasons many young kids growing up picked up tennis rackets in this cricket-crazy country.

Although she did haveher ups and downs and returns over the years, the veteran failed to win any more Slam titles post her Melbourne Park success in 2016. Even before the start of the 2023 Australian Open, she penned down an emotional post on her social media handles thanking everyone for standing by her side through her journey.

A super-mom, a tennis legend on the field, and a stereotype-breaker off it, Sania Mirza will be fondly remembered as one of India’s greatest sportspersons of the past two decades.

However, next month’s Dubai Open will be Sania’s last tournament as a professional Tennis player.