Sania Mirza to retire soon, says 2022 season will be her last

India’s most successful female tennis player, Sania Mirza announced that 2022 will be her final season on the WTA tour after her first-round loss in women’s doubles at the Australian Open on Wednesday.

“There’s a few reasons for it. It’s not as simple as ‘okay I’m not going to play’. I do feel my recovery is taking longer, I’m putting my 3-year-old son at risk by travelling so much with him, that’s something I have to take into account. I think my body is wearing down. My knee was really hurting today and I’m not saying that’s the reason we lost but I do think that it is taking time to recover as I’m getting older,” said Sania on Wednesday.

Sania Mirza has won six Grand slams and has reached the summit of the WTA doubles ranking.

The 35-year-old is a former world No. 1 in doubles and had a career-best ranking of 27 in singles. She is currently ranked 68th in the world. Mirza, the first Indian woman to win a Grand Slam, has won Majors in doubles along with medals at Asian Games and Commonwealth Games. Her last Slam came at the 2016 Australian Open with Martina Hingis, with whom she formed one of the most successful pairs in women’s doubles.

Mirza and her Ukrainian partner Nadiia Kichenok went down 4-6, 6-7 against Tamara Zidansek and Kaja Juvan and is set to play mixed doubles with Rajeev Ram next.