Ace tennis player Sania Mirza caught her fans off guard when she announced her retirement at the Australian Open on 19 January. Sania stated that she will retire from tennis after the 2022 season. This left many shocked as she is one of the most sought-after tennis stars not only in India but the world. In an exclusive interview with CNN news18, Sania Mirza gets into the nitty-gritty of how this thought came about and what was the reason that triggered this decision.
What many are calling a hasty decision was actually in the works for months. According to Sania Mirza, even though her announcement was spontaneous and she hadn’t planned how she was gonna do it and where, she was thinking of retiring from the sport for more than 6 months.
I didn’t talk about it to anybody at home, not even my husband.
Sania Mirza
What Triggered This Decision?
For Sania, there were many factors at play that triggered her decision to retire. One of them being her body and what it takes for her to recover after a match. “What pain I feel, how much I feel, how many painkillers I take, there’s only one person who knows that, only I know that,” revealed Sania.
You have to accept certain realities of life and for me, even though the level of tennis is still there, I don’t feel that tennis is really the problem but my body is and that is a reality I need to accept.
Sania Mirza talks about her retirement
For Sania, this decision was not hastened at all. Adding to that, she said that people had thought she was done with tennis when she gained 23 kilos around 3 years ago after her pregnancy.
I have been able to play at the highest level of my sport for over 20 years and there are not many people in the world that are able to say that.
Sania Mirza
Was Covid A Factor?
The pandemic has altered our lives and Sania’s is no different. She feels traveling with her toddler meant putting him at risk and since he’s so young, he cannot get vaccinated. Not traveling with her son was not an option for her, she added.
He will be fine but I don’t think I’ll be fine. That’s the problem
Sania Mirza
A Sneakpeak Into Her Tremendous Career
Sania Mirza continues to be an inspiration to young girls who are told to follow a certain path just because it’s the norm. Her 21 years long career has had many highs, let’s take a look.
Sania Mirza has 6 double slams titles, she was world’s no. 1 in women’s doubles for 84 weeks, she reached a career-high singles ranking of 27, and this record, to this day, remains unbeaten by another Indian woman (BBC). She was also the first Indian woman to win a WTA title. The ace tennis player has won 8 medals at the Asian games and 2 at the commonwealth games…& the list goes on (CNN news18).
Sania also mentioned that she might change her mind if she feels her body is better
We definitely hope so but we respect her decision and it certainly doesn’t take away from her long list of credentials. Here’s wishing her all the best for the future!
Watch the full interview here:
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Sources used in this article include CNN news18
