Dubai, February 21
Tennis will remain a significant aspect of Sania Mirza’s life but the legendary player said that not treating the sport as the be-all and end-all gave her the freedom to unleash her aggressive game every time she stepped onto the court.
Sania said she never had the fear of losing in her heart because it makes a player defensive. The 36-year-old conjured up wins against players such as US Open champion Svetlana Kuznetsova, Swiss legend Martina Hingis, Nadia Petrova and Flavia Penneta. She also put up a decent fight in her losses to Serena Williams and Venus Williams.
“What made me that aggressive was not having the fear of losing,” Sania said. “Tennis is always going to be a big and important part of my life, but it is not my entire life. And that is the mindset I went with, even as a young girl and as a professional athlete. The worst that can happen is that you can lose a tennis match and then come back and try again,” she added.
“So, the fear of losing was not there. And I think a lot of people become defensive because they have the fear of losing. They think ‘oh if we push the ball or put the ball inside the court, maybe we won’t lose’. But, in the long run, that doesn’t work to become a top athlete,” she added.
Sania conceded that losses did affect her but she realised that it was not the end of the world. “They affected me. But I knew I could try again next week. They affected me in the moment, some defeats more than the others. But I always knew that was not the end of the world. It was just losing a tennis match,” she said.
Doubles overshadowed singles
The 36-year-old, who turned professional in 2003, walks out of competitive tennis with six Grand Slam doubles titles. Sania said her singles success gets overshadowed because of her doubles exploits.
“I got a lot of respect (because of doubles). I am very grateful for that. I had a great singles career. I was not No. 1 but I was in the top-30 which has not happened from our side of the world in a very long time. Never happened for women and even for men, the last person was Vijay (Amritraj) or Ramesh (Krishnan). I had good success,” she said.
“Then I moved on to the doubles because my body was not able to take it after three surgeries and it was the right call. Being No. 1 in the world at whatever you do is amazing. It does not really matter what people say. It (success) looks much more in doubles because I was No. 1 in doubles,” she added.
Missed Olympics medal
Sania has medals from many multi-sports big-ticket events like the Commonwealth and Asian Games but an Olympics medal eluded her. She came closest in 2016, when she and Rohan Bopanna lost in the bronze medal play-off to the Czech pair of Radek Stepanek and Lucie Hradceka.
“I am very content with what I have achieved. To represent India in four Olympics has been so amazing. If I could have one moment back it would be that bronze medal match, or the match before that, when we played the semifinals,” she said. — PTI
Sania ends career with first-round defeat
Dubai: Sania Mirza finished her glorious career with a first-round defeat at the WTA Dubai Duty Free Championships here today. Sania and USA’s Madison Keys lost 4-6 0-6 to the Russian pair of Vernokia Kudermetova and Liudmila Samsonova in one hour. PTI
Grand Slam Titles
Women’s doubles
With Martina Hingis
- US Open (2015)
- Wimbledon (2015)
- Australian Open (2016)
Mixed doubles
With Mahesh Bhupathi
- Australian Open (2009)
- French Open (2012)
With Bruno Soares
For all the latest Sports News Click Here
