Dubai: India’s Sania Mirza is hopeful she can walk away with at least one women’s doubles Grand Slam crown before calling time on her tennis career.
Mirza, who considers the UAE her second home while using Dubai as a base, has so far been successful in the mixed doubles at the Grand Slams – winning the 2009 Australian Open and the 2012 French Open (both with IPTL founder Mahesh Bhupathi) and the US Open earlier this year with Brazilian Bruno Soares.
Though she is yet to win a Major in women’s doubles, Mirza came closest at the 2011 French Open when she teamed up with Elena Vesnina before losing in the final in straight sets.
The 27-year-old Indian star signed off the 2014 season in style when she teamed up with Zimbabwe’s Cara Black to pick up her first major women’s accolade, the year-ending WTA Finals in Singapore. “I can be proud of what I have achieved so far in my tennis career. And though I really never like to set goals for myself, I hope to have a women’s doubles Grand Slam at least before I retire from tennis,” Mirza told the media here after her team the Indian Aces were crowned champions of the inaugural International Premier Tennis League (IPTL) late on Friday.
“The idea is always to keep winning and 2014 was such a good year for me professionally. But now with a new partner [Su-Wei Hsieh of Chinese Taipei] in women’s doubles and Bruno [Soares] in mixed doubles, I hope to continue winning and realise my goal in the near future,” she added.
Appointed the UN Women’s Goodwill Ambassador for South Asia last month, Mirza also wants to bow out on a high from the world of women’s doubles as she eyes a possible finish at No.1. “Being the world number one in doubles would be another realistic goal for me at the moment. There is a lot of hard work to go along with this, but I feel confident I can achieve this,” she said.
And adding to a fine year off the court was her appointement as brand ambassador of the newly formed Indian state of Telangana with the state’s first Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao honouring her with an amount of Rs 1 crore ((Dhs 600,000) along with a promise to assist her in whatever way possible in setting up an international standard tennis academy in the state.
Injuries have always been a major snag for Mirza, who is married to former Pakistan cricket captain Shoaib Malek. “Keeping healthy is also an important part of the entire plan. There are things we do as players in ensuring we conserve and take care of our bodies. And if I can stay healthy and put in the required amount of hard work I don’t see why I cannot achieve all my goals,” Mirza said.
