“These are happy tears,” Sania Mirza, the evergreen diva of tennis, evolves from Majors

Sania Mirza has played her final Grand Slam match and there's only one thing every fan can do, Salute the legend of Indian Tennis.


“These are happy tears,” Sania Mirza, the evergreen diva of tennis, evolves from Majors

Sania Mirza

Sania Mirza‘s emotional speech after the Australian Open mixed doubles final in Melbourne on Friday brought tears to billions of fans around the world. Unmindful of the time zone people were in, they saw the last wave, the final hurrah, and the tears. As she said, these were tears of emotion, tears which must come when you say goodbye.

These were tears that capture her captivating journey in the world of tennis for over two glorious decades. It seems like yesterday this young girl was winning a medal with Leander Paes in Busan, South Korea, at the Asian Games in 2002. She was just 16 then, but by then it was clear her talent was in abundance. Just imagine, for someone who has won six Grand slam titles — three each in women’s doubles and mixed — the eight medals in the Asian Games were huge.

YouTube video

Sadly, that one big medal, at the Olympics, escaped from the clutches of Sania and partner Rohan Bopanna in 2016 when they lost the bronze-medal playoff in Rio de Janeiro. It was tearful, almost numbing to all watching that match on a dank day in Rio. Just imagine, if the media was in tears, yours truly included, what emotions the players would have undergone. Sport is about emotion, laughter, tears, pain, agony, and ecstasy.

FS Video

You never got tired of seeing Sania as she was always refreshing. I am privileged to have watched her career for well over two decades when she began as just another teenager. What separated her from the others was her attitude, never-say-no approach, and great self-belief. From age group, tournaments to her first Asian Games medal and then the junior Wimbledon girls’ doubles title at Wimbledon in 2003 with partner Alisa Kleybanova from Russia, Sania’s rise had begun.

Related: Sania Mirza and Rohan Bopanna lose an emotionally mixed doubles final at the Australian Open

Sania Mirza broke onto the scene very early in the 2000s

Sania Mirza and Serena Williams
Sania Mirza and Serena Williams

Her win in 2003 grabbed headlines at Wimbledon where I watched the young girl show great presence on the court. Doubles came naturally to her, even then, two decades ago, when grass was faster and there was nothing wrong to take the name of Russia. Thank God, Sania does not have to face the Western media rubbish today which is obsessed with Russia, Vladimir Putin, and war.

Sport is “War Minus Shooting,” wrote famous author George Orwell long ago. After that, well-known cricket writer Mike Marqusee wrote with a similar title. Sania has never been in the sport as some kind of war. If she waged a war, it was with her own injury issues, her own body, so many times. Had it not been for the wrist, ankle, knee, shoulder, and several other injuries and surgeries, she would have been a much more bigger singles player.

That injury robbed her of big glory in singles hurts, for, she had that bazooka, boom-sounding forehand which was a sure-shot winner. The inside-out forehand was a natural shot, a killer, which was natural in execution and could hurt her opponent. Sadly, the injuries to her wrist and many more key joints in her body forced her to give up singles.

If not, for someone who had barged into the Top 30 in the singles ranking on the WTA ladder, she could take on any tough player. Today’s generation may remember Sania as a doubles specialist. No, she was one hell of a singles player. From WTA events to Fed Cup and the Grand Slams, she was a superstar. That injuries were hurting her, repeatedly, and forced her to shift to doubles.

Her Family was the biggest pillar of support for Sania Mirza

Sania Mirza with father Imran, mother Nasima and sister Anam
Sania Mirza with father Imran, mother Nasima and sister Anam

Doubles is an art and science, it also has to do with how much you can understand your partner and bring out the best in each other. Sania could play with someone as old as Martina Navratilova in Hyderabad and bring the roof down almost two decades ago and also team up with temperamental Martina Hingis. Winning had to be an ingredient. Her results and stats can be poured over, again and again.

First things first, Sania would not be the superstar she is, Super Mom she is, without the gigantic support her family offered her day in and day out. If tennis was a penance, then her Dad Imran, my dear friend, her Mom Nasima, a lady I admire for her contribution, and her sister Anam are the pillars of support Sania stood on. Sounds cliche? Having seen the sacrifices the family has made for Sania, it is about time a biopic is made on Sania.

Born in Hyderabad, a city steeped in tradition, and coming from a Muslim family, for the Western World, Sania was some kind of an unusual star. The paparazzi like to play up such stuff whether it’s Sania or Ons Jabeur. Sania had to answer all hard questions many times, on needless topics. Her calmness stood out and with it an unflappable temperament.

That marked Sania out as someone with great maturity, a player who could handle success, praise, and criticism (mostly not needed) without flinching. To use the word ‘wonderful human being’ is not being lavish in praise, but that’s Sania’s persona. A kind soul, unless you are facing her on the court, with a heart of gold and words that will always touch a person.

Every effort was made to drag Sania into controversies

Sania Mirza
Sania Mirza was criticized after a photo of her went viral with her feet near the Indian National Flag

She may have been a bit skeptical about the media early on, as controversies and Sania loved each other for a very long. It is to her credit, she negotiated all that just the way great SMG — Sunil Manohar Gavaskar — handled bouncers from the West Indian pace battery. Sania took questions from one and all, even if they were banal.

She was and is articulate, and sharp, and communication comes to her so naturally. That is why one should not be surprised if she will be holding the TV mic in the near future. Sania got accolades, love from billions of people, and whatever she should ask for. The edifice on which she built her career is hard work, trusting partners, and how much she wanted to emerge as a role model in whatever she did.

In sports, as in life, Sania is the diva. She was the darling and still is the darling. That’s why even today you will find laudatory remarks from writers in the Western world. Look at it this way, people are still asking why she is retiring. For someone who dealt with controversies like an anti-virus pack in a computer, Sania has faced cruel moments. She had dealt with fatwas from clerics for no rhyme or reason.

She has also dealt with the bad press when there was a flag controversy when a picture showed her foot near the India flag on a table. That was mischief at work as Sania has loved draping her soul in the tricolor and playing for India. Her contribution to India in the Fed Cup, now BJK, is superb. At the same time, where Sania was let down by the nation was in the form of the All India Tennis Association.

That she was paired against her wishes at the Olympics in mixed doubles at the 2012 London Olympics hurt her. Sania was hurt she was not given the right to choose her partner. She was forced to play with Leander Paes. Perhaps, at that time, Sania spoke of her pain, how she was not even being asked which partner she wanted. The AITA has always been an unprofessional association, though in 2016 she got so close to a medal.

Had she been paired with Mahesh Bhupathi in London 2012 Olympics, India could have won a medal. Sure shot. Maturity in Sania increased manifold after son Izhaan arrived. How could Sania return to tennis after putting on so much weight was the question? Well, she proved us all wrong as she got back with strong determination and a strong will to fight. Tennis has been her first love and the passion she shares with the sport saw her make a comeback.

Post-retirement bliss awaits the legend

Sania Mirza's family celebrating her retirement (Image Credits: Imran Mirza)
Sania Mirza’s family celebrating her retirement (Image Credits: Imran Mirza)

It was tough but to rise to the level of a Grand Slam final in the twilight of her career is incredible. Post-retirement, life for an elite athlete is hard. No, it will not be so for Sania. She craves to spend time with her son Izhaan and her academies in Hyderabad and Dubai, so she will be busy. She may not go on to become a coach in the strict sense, but Sania can be a great mentor. It is up to Indian tennis to use her. She has been in reality shows and glitz and glamour as well.

So, does Sania slip into serials and movies? Well, she has many roles beckoning her! As one whose charity roles have been kept under wraps, all along, what Sania did during the Covid pandemic in Hyderabad was never a publicity stunt. You would have read thousands of stories on Sania, each one capturing her persona beautifully.

For me, she is the real diva, a lady with grace, etiquette, and honesty. Perhaps, the tennis phrase which suits her best is: Love All. Thanks, Sania and Mirza family. You gave fans and sports writers so much to write about, and so many stories to narrate to the world.

Continue Reading:

Tennis Australia fires a double fault over warning to Novak Djokovic’s Dad Srdjan on Russia issue

Elena Rybakina handles questions on Russian-born Maria Sharapova with maturity