Sania Mirza: My body is wearing down

Trailblazing India tennis star Sania Mirza on Wednesday announced that she will hang up her racquet at the end of 2022 season as her body is wearing down and the motivation and energy for everyday grind is not the same anymoreWinner of six Grand Slam titles including three mixed doubles trophies Sania 35 will retire as Indiarsquos most accomplished woman tennis player Sania made the retirement announcement after losing the Australian Open womenrsquos doubles first round with partner Nadiia Kichenok They lost to Sloveniarsquos Tamara Zidansek and Kaja JuvanldquoTherersquos a bunch of reasons for it I do feel my recovery is taking longer and considering my son is three years old I do feel I am putting him at risk by travelling so much with him Unfortunately the pandemic is making us take certain decision for the wellbeing of ourselves and familyrdquo Mirza said at the postmatch press conferenceInjury problemsldquoAlso my body is wearing down My knee was really hurting today and Irsquom not saying thatrsquos the reason we lost but I do think that it is taking time to recover as Irsquom getting olderrdquo she said Sania who became World No1 in doubles during her successful partnership with Swiss legend Martina Hingis said there were a certain issues that influenced her decisionldquoAlso for me to find that motivation everyday to come out the energy is not the same anymore Right this minute itrsquos there but there are days where I donrsquot feel like doing that Irsquove always said that I will play until I enjoy that grind the process and not just winning but you have to enjoy the process and I am not sure Irsquom enjoying it anymore ldquoI am enjoying it enough to play this season Irsquove worked very hard to come back get fit lose the 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 donrsquot feel my body doing it Itrsquos beatrdquo said the World No68She reached Top30 in singles with 27 being her career best rank Sania quit singles after a wrist injury to focus on doubles and enjoyed exceptional results Sania said she feels that she was playing at a decent level but she always knew that 2022 will be her last season and Wednesdayrsquos defeat was no trigger for it ldquoI am playing at a good level First week in Adelaide event we she and Kichenok beat Top10 20 players I am playing at a decent level I was pretty sure this is my last season if I do finish it I am sure I am not coming to Melbourne to play Australian Open againldquoI had great memories here singles doubles and mixed doubles Itrsquos been a great journey I am not looking forward to June or July I am literally going week to week with my body with virus there is so much uncertainty Every time I play I feel I have a chance to win thatrsquos why I am here It is not because of disappointment of todayrsquos match Just the way my body is I am not sure if I can finish the season I want to play full season I am still ranked 5060 in world I do feel I have the level to playldquoAs an athlete I feel I can go deep in tournament But I have a bit of a meniscus issue going on my right knee I woke up with wrist pain couple of days ago There is nothing wrong with it At 35 I am waking up with couple of things that I donrsquot know where theyrsquore coming from I want to finish the season try to play until US Open that is my goal But I still have to take it weektoweekrdquo she said Talking about her first round match Sania said the conditions were tough but they could have handled the match better tacticallylsquoDifficult conditionsrsquoldquoDefinitely conditions were tough very gutsy sometimes itrsquos not about tennis We should have won the second set When the wind is blowing one side and the stadium is on the other side the ball bounced on leave and changed directions when I was hitting the ball It was tough conditions but when you come to Australia you can have days like this On days like that you should take a little bit more charge at net Thatrsquos where we made a mistakerdquoGrand Slam gloryDoubles titlespoundAustralian Open 2016poundWimbledon 2015poundUS Open 2015MIXED Doubles titlespoundAustralian Open 2009poundFrench Open 2012poundUS Open 201443No of career titles Sania Mirza has wonThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever