Sania Mirza to give up tennis this yr

It got here after the 35-year-old, thought to be her nation’s biggest ladies’s tennis participant, bowed out of the Australian Open within the first spherical along with her accomplice Nadiia Kichenok of Ukraine.

“I’ve determined this shall be my final season. I am taking it week by week, undecided if I can final the season, however I need to,” she informed press in Melbourne, in feedback later confirmed to AFP by her father.

“I nonetheless really feel I can play effectively, go deep into tournaments and all that. However past this season, I do not see my physique do it both. It is beat.”

Mirza, who has gained six Grand Slam doubles titles, is paired with America’s Rajeev Ram within the combined doubles on the Australian Open. They play on Thursday within the first spherical.

Mirza, who’s married to former Pakistan cricket captain Shoaib Malik, final gained a ladies’s doubles title on the Ostrava Open in September, with China’s Zhang Shuai.

However Mirza admits that accidents and a younger household is drawing a curtain on her profession.

“I do really feel my restoration is taking longer, I am placing my three-year-old son in danger by travelling a lot with him, that is one thing I’ve to bear in mind. I believe my physique is carrying down,” she stated.

“My knee was actually hurting at the moment and I am not saying that is the explanation we misplaced, however I do suppose that it’s taking time to get better as I am getting older.”

Mirza turned the primary Indian to win a WTA singles title, in 2005, in her hometown Hyderabad. She reached the fourth spherical of the US Open the identical yr and by 2007 was among the many ladies’s high 30.

However a wrist harm triggered her to focus on doubles, forging a partnership with Swiss nice Martina Hingis which produced three Grand Slam titles.