Sania Mirza Announces To Retire After This Season

Indian tennis star Sania Mirza on Wednesday has announced that she will be retiring after the current season.

The announcement from the tennis star comes after Sania and her Ukrainian partner Nadiia Kichenok suffered an opening-round loss in the women’s doubles event of the ongoing Australian Open on Wednesday.

Mirza and Kichenok were defeated by Kaja Juvan and Tamara Zidansek of Slovenia by 6-4, 7-6.

“There’s a few [sic] reasons for it. It’s not as simple as okay I’m not going to play. I do feel my recovery is taking longer, I’m putting my 3-year-old son at risk by travelling so much with him, that’s something I have to take into account. I think my body is wearing down. My knee was really hurting today and I’m not saying that’s the reason we lost but I do think that it is taking time to recover as I’m getting older,” said Mirza on Wednesday.

“Also for me to find that motivation every day to come out. The energy is not the same anymore. There are more days than there used to be where I don’t feel like doing that. I’ve always said that I will play until I enjoy that grind, the process which I’m not sure I’m enjoying as much anymore.

“Having said that, I still want to play the season because I’m enjoying it enough to play the year. I’ve worked very hard to come back, get fit, lose weight and try to set a good example for mothers, new mothers to follow their dreams as much as they can. Beyond this season, I don’t feel my body doing it,” Mirza added.