- Sania Mirza announced her retirement on Instagram on Friday.
- She wrote statement in which she discussed her impending retirement.
- She played her final match at Wimbledon in 2022, and intends to retire in 2023.
Sania Mirza, an Indian tennis player, posted a heartbreaking “life update” on Instagram on Friday. The celebrity has sent a message that has many of her admirers in tears.
She routinely maintains her social media account in an effort to stay in touch with her fans, using the well-liked photo and video sharing website. The 36-year-old wrote a lengthy, sincere statement in which she discussed her impending retirement.
Sania made her retirement intentions known earlier this month.
She had previously stated that she would end her career after the Dubai Tennis Championships in one month.
She described her tennis career in detail, thanked her family and supporters for their support over the years, and announced that she was about to embark on a new chapter of her life and spend more time with her kid.
“Thirty years ago,” the Indian tennis star begins in her message, “a six-year-old girl from Nasr School in Hyderabad, walked onto a tennis court at Nizam Club with her young mom and fought the coach to let her learn how to play tennis as he thought that she was too little [to play tennis]”.
She continued by describing how she had begun practising at the young age of six and had “dared to dream” that one day she would represent her nation in a Grand Slam.
“[Looking back], not only did I get to play well over half a century of Grand Slam tournaments, but I was lucky enough to win a handful of them, too, with God’s favour,” the athlete wrote.
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Sania stated that receiving medals for her nation had been her “greatest honour” and that it had been a humbling experience even as she composed the statement.
She then expressed gratitude to her staff, family, and supporters for their unwavering support and wrote, “It’s all of you, who have helped me through the toughest phases of my life and helped this little girl from Hyderabad to not only dare to dream but to achieve those dreams, as well. So thank you from the bottom of my heart.”
“[Tennis] is all I’ve known throughout my life,” the star wrote as she recounted the extent and expanse of her Tennis career.
“It’s been 20 years of being a professional athlete and 30 years of being a tennis player,” she stated.
Commenting on her decision to retire in 2023, Sania said, “my Grand Slam journey started with the Australian Open back in 2005. So, it goes without saying that this would be the most perfect Grand Slam to end my career with.”
The Australian Open is scheduled to begin on January 16 this year. 18 years ago, Sania competed in her maiden Grand Slam event at the Australian Open. She intends to compete in the Dubai Open in February after this Grand Slam.
Sania noted that, notwithstanding how touched she may have been, her two strongest emotions at the time of her retirement were “thanks and pride”.
“I take pride in everything I have been able to achieve over the last 20 years of my professional career and I am so grateful for the memories that I have been able to create,” she said.
After the moving and emotional trip down memory lane, Sania concluded her message on a hopeful note, saying that she did not see the retirement as an “end”.
“In fact, [it is] a beginning of many different memories to be created, dreams to be achieved and new goals to be set. My son needs me more than ever now and I can’t wait to live a slightly quieter and calmer life while giving him more of my time than I have been able to give so far”.
The Tennis star ended off with this touching statement, leaving her followers overcome with emotion. Comments swamped her post from fans wishing her well and giving your opinions on how she has inspired them.
Sania played her final match at Wimbledon in July 2022, it should be emphasised. She had sent an emotional farewell to Wimbledon at the moment. After competing at the US Open last year, she had originally planned to stop playing competitive tennis. She was forced to back off owing to an injury, and her plans were delayed until 2023.
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