Sania Mirza to retire at WTA 1000 in Dubai in February

Sania, the former doubles world no. 1, initially wanted to hang up her racquet at the end of 2022, but an elbow injury ruled her out of the US Open and forced her to end 2022 as early as August.

Sania Mirza training at her Sania Mirza Tennis Academy in Hyderabad on February 24, 2021. | Photo Credit: V. V. Subrahmanyam

Sania Mirza announced that WTA 1000 event in Dubai in February would be her final competition. The Indian tennis legend said in an interview with the WTA website.

“Honestly, the person that I am, I like to do things on my own terms. So I don’t want to be forced out by injury. So I have been training,” she told wtatennis.com.

Sania, the former doubles world no. 1, initially wanted to hang up her racquet at the end of 2022, but an elbow injury ruled her out of the US Open and forced her to end 2022 as early as August.

The six-time Grand Slam winner in doubles will play her final Major at the Australian Open later this month before hanging up her boots at the Dubai meet.

Last year, Sania’s father Imran Mirza said that her Wimbledon appearance, where she lost the mixed doubles semifinal partnering Mate Pavic, would be her final match. Saina, on her part, decided to delay her retirement due to injuries.

“I really don’t have the capacity in my mind to emotionally push that much anymore. I turned pro in 2003,” the 36-year-old was quoted as saying by WTA. “Priorities change, and now my priority is not to push my body to the limit every single day,” she added.

Sania also made it clear that after her retirement she wants to focus on her academies in Dubai in addition to the one she set up in Hyderabad, the city where she grew up and learned tennis.

“For me it’s important to share my experience in the places that I live in, that’s why I have one in Hyderabad and one in Dubai,” she said.