Sania Mirza sheds 'tears of joy' as Hyderabad gives tennis star emotional farewell

Life came full circle for Sania Mirza as she bid an emotional farewell to tennis at the Lal Bahadur Stadium in her hometown Hyderabad - the venue where it all began for her.

Back in 2003, Sania Mirza, just 16 at the time, played her first-ever WTA event as a wild card entry, at the Hyderabad Open. A year later, she won the doubles title at the same event, partnering South Africa’s Liezel Huber.

It was the first of Sania Mirza’s 44 WTA titles - 43 in doubles and one in singles - over the course of an illustrious career, highlighted by six Grand Slam titles and four Olympic appearances, that spanned for two decades.

The Indian tennis player had retired from professional tennis after the Dubai Tennis Championships earlier this month but received a grand farewell at her hometown on Sunday.

Besides the felicitations and speeches, Sania Mirza, a six-time Grand Slam champion, also played two exhibition matches, featuring fellow Indian tennis legend Rohan Bopanna, former Indian cricket star Yuvraj Singh and American tennis player Bethanie Mettek Sands - her ‘best friend’ and former doubles partner. Sania Mirza won both the matches to the delight of the home crowd.

"I am so excited to play my last match in front of you all," she said, speaking ahead of the match. The greatest honour for me has been to play for my country for 20 years. It is every athlete's dream to represent their country at the highest level. I was able to do that,” Sania Mirza told the fans in attendance at Hyderabad.

As the crowd, featuring plenty of youngsters and schoolchildren cheered her on from the stands, the 36-year-old Sania Mirza, who was accompanied by son Izhaan Mirza Malik, turned emotional.

“These are very, very happy tears. I could not have asked for a better send-off,” Sania Mirza explained.

Some prominent personalities like former Indian sports minister Kiren Rijiju, former Indian cricket team captain Mohammed Azharuddin, famous movie star Dulquer Salmaan and popular rapper MC Stan also attended Sania Mirza’s farewell in Hyderabad.