It could have been a fairy-tale ending to a fairly fairy-tailish career, but Sania Mirza came oh-so-close to it. On Friday, Mirza and partner Rohan Bopanna lost in the mixed doubles final of the Australian Open at Melbourne, to Brazilian pair Luisa Stefani and Rafael Matos 6-7 (2) 2-6.
Mirza had said that this would be the last time she is playing in a Grand
Slam, but having done well enough to reach the final, who could blame her for wanting more?
Sports professionals who dedicate the best part of their lives, from the early years till into their 30s, to a particular discipline, find it difficult to let go. The buzz of competition, the excitement of travel, the rigour of training can be addictive, but they call it time when the body and mind say enough. The decision, though, is not always easy to stick by.
“My journey of my professional career started in Melbourne… in 2005 when I played Serena Williams in the third round as an 18-year-old,” Mirza said at the presentation ceremony after the Australian Open final, pausing for a moment as emotions got the better of her.
“That was scarily enough 18 years ago and I’ve had the privilege to come back here again and again and win some titles here. Rod Laver Arena has really been special in my life… To play the final, obviously we couldn’t get over the line, but there’s no better place and no better person to finish my Grand Slam career with.”
Mirza and Bopanna played together for the first time when she was 14 years old, and perhaps fittingly, did so now when the 36-year-old Mirza played her last Slam. “I never thought I’d be able to play in front of my child (Izhaan) in a Grand Slam final, so it’s truly special for me to have my four-year-old here and my parents here, Rohan’s wife here.”
Mirza was planning to quit in 2022, but postponed the move after an injury denied her the kind of ending she wished for, which has—hopefully to her
satisfaction—come now.
Her storied career is not just about the titles she won—including six Grand Slams, three in doubles and three in mixed doubles. It’s not about the highest WTA (Women’s Tennis Association) ranking she achieved, 31, in 2005 at the peak of her career that promised so much more at that time. There was that breakthrough season in 2015-16 when she won 18 doubles titles, 14 of them with Martina Hingis, including three straight Slams—Wimbledon, US Open (2015) and Australian Open (2016).
There was also the 2003 doubles title at Junior Wimbledon, which first attracted everyone’s attention to her potential. Her career is layered because of what she achieved outside of the tennis court too.
Chastised, attacked and cornered for being a young Muslim woman player, for playing in a skirt, for marrying Pakistan’s cricketer Shoaib Malik, for speaking her mind, for having an opinion, Mirza took it all on her chin and gave it back in equal measure. From a slightly shy teenager who was taken aback by television cameras at the Mumbai airport when she returned after her Junior Wimbledon title, to a more assured and outspoken representative of the sport, she stood her ground and continued playing the sport bravely with grace. She was also one of the best interviewees around, a rarity among Indian sportspeople, speaking with confidence, unfiltered and blunt.
“When I go out on court, I don’t care what I look like. I don’t care if I’m out of my bed as long as I win the match, and that’s what I’m there for. It doesn’t matter what I’m wearing… it doesn’t matter what my hair feels like. All I feel is the moment I have to play well, give my 100 percent and win the match,” she told CNN in an interview in 2005.
“When I used to say I wanted to play at Wimbledon, they used to laugh in my face and say, ‘What are you talking about, you’re from Hyderabad, and you’re supposed to... cook’.”
“I don’t need to wear anything to say anything,” she said in reply to a question about a T-shirt she once wore that said “Polite women don’t make history”. “I have a mouth and I can speak up for myself but I’d wear them because I like wearing T-shirts and I like being 18 sometimes. But if people want to scrutinize that too, then there’s not much I can do, it’s not in my control. But if I need to make a statement, I’m going to say it; I don’t need to wear it.”
Her success story, like that of several sportspeople, begins with her father Imran, driving her around tournaments at a time when they could not afford air tickets. It was travel for 30 weeks a year, six-seven hours of practice a day, in and out of competitions, which is easier now than 20 years ago. The hard work paid off in 47 doubles titles, starting with one in Manila in 2002 with Radhika Tulpule, to the last at the Ostrava Open with Shuai Zhang in 2021. Besides there were three mixed doubles titles, Australian Open, French Open and US Open, that made her a rarity among Asian tennis players and an enduring symbol of longevity.
There is wistful joy in wondering how much more she could have done with that devastating forehand, had she not been forced by injuries to give up singles. Had she grown up in an eco-system that was more encouraging and supportive. But along with Leander Paes, Mahesh Bhupathi and Bopanna, Mirza ensured India had a presence on the global tennis stage for the better part of the last two decades.
She leaves a strong legacy, as a pioneering Indian woman tennis player, and an example for future sportswomen, who showed how to play boldly and speak fearlessly.
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