Hyderabad: With “happy tears”, Indian tennis legend Sania Mirza today ended her path-breaking journey as a player at the place where it all began – Hyderabad, a PTI report in The Tribune, Chandigarh, says, .
Playing exhibition matches featuring Rohan Bopanna, Yuvraj Singh, Bethanie Mattek-Sands, Ivan Dodig, Cara Black and Marion Bartoli, Sania finally said goodbye to her illustrious career at the Lal Bahadur Tennis Stadium, the venue where she signalled her arrival on the big stage with a historic WTA singles title triumph nearly two decades ago.
An emotion-filled Saniia said between her tears: “The greatest honour for me has been to play for my country for 20 years. I didn’t think that I was going to get emotional today. But, these are really, really happy tears. I could not have asked for a better send-off”.
As she entered the court, the 36-year-old Sania was greeted by cheering spectators, mostly schoolchildren.
“I am so excited to play my last match in front of you all. I always wanted to express my gratitude by playing my last match in front of my home crowd in Hyderabad,” Sania said.
After the matches, the six-time Grand Slam winner —three each in women’s doubles and mixed doubles — got emotional while giving her farewell speech.
“The greatest honour for me has been to play for my country for 20 years. It is every athlete’s dream to represent their country at the highest level. I would like to thank everyone who came to celebrate. I couldn’t have asked for a better farewell,” she said.
“It’s been 20-plus years. A lot of great things in my life started from this stadium here. It has come a long way. It came from a time when nobody believed that tennis was an option. Whether it was a girl or a boy, especially for a girl from Hyderabad. My parents were the only ones who believed in me… my sister and my family,” she added.
“I didn’t think that I was going to get emotional today. But, these are really, really happy tears. I could not have asked for a better send-off,” she added.
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