Two-time US Open champion Sania Mirza said farewell to Grand Slam tennis with a runner-up finish in mixed doubles at the Australian Open.
The 36-year-old Indian ace, who will retire from the sport next month, and her partner Rohan Bopanna lost Friday's final to the all-Brazilian team of Rafael Matos and Luisa Stefani, 7-6(2), 6-2.
Mirza will play her final tournament in February at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships, where she'll end a history-making career 20 years after she turned pro. A six-time major champion between women's and mixed doubles, Mirza reached No. 1 in the world in the discipline in 2015, and spent a total of 91 weeks in the top spot—good enough for eighth all-time in the WTA annals.
"I'm still going to play a few more tournaments, but 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 on-court after the match. "I've had the privilege to come back here again and again, win some tournaments here, play some great finals ... Rod Laver Arena has really been special in my life. I couldn't think of a better arena to finish my career at Grand Slams at."
Aside from being the first woman from her country to reach the top ranking in doubles, she was the first Indian woman to record a variety of achievements in tennis including winning a WTA title, reaching the Top 100 in singles, and reaching the third round (or better) at a Grand Slam.
Before turning her attention exclusively to doubles in 2013, Mirza's singles accomplishments included a career-high singles ranking of No. 27 in 2007; a sole singles title on home soil in Hyderabad in 2005; and a fourth-round showing at the US Open, also in 2005. She reached four WTA singles finals in her career.
In her post-match press conference, Mirza reflected on what her achievements meant for the next generation of women and girls in India.
"I, for one, didn't really have that role model back home in tennis as a young girl to follow and say, Okay, this woman has done it or this girl has done it and I can do it," she said. "They have that. They have that.
"If I'm able to inspire even one or two girls to follow their dreams that are outside of the box, so to say, I would feel that, yeah, what I have been put in this place for, I have achieved it."
Mirza gave birth to a son, Izhaan, in 2018, and returned to the tour in 2020, winning the first event of her comeback alongside Nadiia Kichenok. She said that having him in the stands for her final major match, regardless of the result, was a memory she'd never forget.
"I never thought I would be able to play in front of my child in a Grand Slam final, so it's truly special for me to have my 4-year-old here, my parents here," Mirza said, thanking all those who played a part in her career.
"Today I'm here, sitting after a Grand Slam final, knowing that I still have the level to make it to a Grand Slam final. I'm choosing to say that I want other things, and that is very important for me. I feel like after you have a child, especially, winning and losing tennis matches, it really puts things into perspective of how small or big that is.
"I'm able to say that I'm leaving the game on the top. I'm able to say I'm leaving the game because I want to, on my own terms, and that is very important for me."
Mirza won three women's doubles Grand Slam titles with Hall of Famer Martina Hingis, and three further in mixed doubles as a part of her collection of 43 doubles titles in all. She and Brazil's Bruno Soares triumphed at the 2014 US Open in mixed doubles, and a year later, she and Hingis raised the women's doubles trophy in New York. Across 2015 and 2016, Hingis and Mirza won 44 straight matches, the longest such winning streak since 1990.
But she signed off from Grand Slam tennis alongside her childhood friend Bopanna, 42. The two first played together when Mirza was a teenager.
"It's truly special for me to play with Sania," Bopanna said. "Our first mixed doubles together was when she was 14 years old, and we happened to win the title. Today, we get to play the last Grand Slam match in Rod Laver Arena. Unfortunately, we couldn't win the title, but thank you for all you've done for Indian tennis.
"Not only Indian tennis, but inspiring each and every one across the world for playing tennis at the highest level for so many, so many years. It really shows the dedication and hard work you've put in, through and through. Congratulations for a fantastic career."
