A month ago, when Sania Mirza announced that she would be walking away from tennis at the end of the season, it brought a tinge of sadness.
“My body is wearing down,” she said, after losing her first-round doubles match at the Australian Open. “For me to find that motivation every day to come out, the energy is not the same anymore.” The court, her home since the age of six, where she seemed free and full of expression, had turned unwelcoming. The fierce competitiveness that had sustained her all through had dissipated.
It took a while for the news to sink in, but once it did, it was time to celebrate her. Sania is no ordinary champion. Her career is like a great publisher’s splendid backlist, peppered with glorious titles. She is the first Indian woman to win a Grand Slam trophy and the first to reach No. 1 (both in doubles). She is the first Indian to win a WTA title and peaked at No. 27 in singles, the best for an Indian woman.
