Sania Mirza tribute: At her peak, she rose above the rest
The HinduFor a professional athlete, every day is an exercise in the impossible. But Sania didn’t flinch, and with her in-your-face attitude percolating to her tennis, she reached the third round at the Australian Open in 2005 on her Slam singles debut. “That she was in the top-30 in singles, apart from all the doubles highs later, puts her in an absolutely iconic place,” reputed coach Nandan Bal told Sportstar last year when Sania first announced her intention to retire. 1, won six Grand Slam titles to go with six runner-up finishes, including at the 2023 Australian Open, her last Major appearance, three full years after her return from maternity. “When we chose to play tennis professionally, a lot of people asked our parents what they were doing and said we couldn’t make careers,” recalled Ankita Bhambri, Sania’s peer, teammate and once a coach in India’s Billie Jean King Cup team.