Sania played her last Grand Slam just a month ago, finishing runner-up to compatriot Rohan Bopanna at the Australian Open. Sania, who is now settled in Dubai, would have hoped for a dream ending in her second home, but she ran into a strong Russian pairing that cut her stay short in the final tournament of her career, in which she won 43 WTA doubles titles and one singles trophy.
Success was not the only highlight of Sania’s nearly two-decade career, which was plagued by unwarranted controversies. Sometimes she was unfazed and kept going, accomplishing many firsts. She was so depressed at times that she considered not playing in India.
It was during the 2008 Hopman Cup in Australia that she had to prove her love and loyalty to India after being accused of disrespecting the tricolour. The most insulting remark made about her was that she was called Pakistan’s daughter-in-law because of her marriage to Pakistani cricketer Shoaib Malik.
This came after Telangana appointed her as their state ambassador. Despite her inspirational on-court success.
After all, how many Indian tennis players have made it to the top 30? How many people excelled in Majors? How many became world number one in multiple categories? How many people won the year’s end championships? There are only a few in men’s tennis, and only Sania in women’s tennis.
And no one else appears to be capable of matching Sania’s achievements. The chasm is enormous, and the best after Sania are gradually fading. Sania, 36, retired from competitive tennis with six Grand Slam titles, including three women’s doubles titles with Swiss legend Martina Hingis.
She won two of her three mixed doubles matches with fellow countryman Mahesh Bhupathi (2009 Australian Open and 2012 French Open). She shared the US Open title with Bruno Soares.
However, success eluded them on the biggest stage of all: the Olympics. She was on the verge of winning bronze at the 2016 Rio Olympics, but lost a play-off to Bopanna.
In her final match, the breaks were traded quickly in the opening set, which was tied at 4-4. Kudermetova and Samsonova then broke the pair of Sania and Keys once more for a 5-4 lead, putting themselves in position to serve out the set.
They did so with ease, losing only one point in the tenth game. Sania and her partner were broken in the first game of the second set, and it was all downhill from there as they were bageled.
