Former India tennis star Sania Mirza walked down memory lane and opened up on the moment which changed her life. Mirza is undoubtedly the greatest women’s tennis player to play for India. She took retirement earlier this year and ended her career with an exhibition match at the Lal Bahadur Tennis Stadium
The 36-year-old Sania, who turned Pro in 2003, walks out of competitive tennis with six Grand Slam titles, including three women’s doubles with Swiss legend Martina Hingis.
Meanwhile, Sania revealed that it was the 2005 Australian Open which changed her life completely as she faced legendary Serena Williams in round 3.
“It was all too sudden. Honestly, if you ask me now, I think the impact of it was much larger on me later and the realization of what I had achieved was much later than in that given moment. I was too young, and it was all just happening too fast for me. That 2005 Australian Open changed my life. It changed my life in every way possible. And for the better, obviously. But also, from that day onwards, from that Australian Open onwards, my life was just never the same and it’s never been the same. Not just in terms of fame and money and everything else that comes from it, but also my self-belief, also my confidence that, oh my God, I can compete against Serena. She is probably the best tennis player ever and I was like, wow, I can compete against the best ever, the actual GOAT of tennis and those kind of beliefs and emotions just really changed my life. I think later on in my life, the things I went on to achieve, had a lot to do with that impact that had on me that Australian Open, which is why when I stopped at Australian Open this year, for me, life had come a full circle because that’s where it started for me,” Mirza told her interview on Home of Heroes on JioCinema.
She opened up on what went through her mind before the mega clash at Australian Open.
“So nervous. Not the night before, but I remember walking on the court and I mean, she’s such a daunting figure. Imagine as an 18-year-old going there and there’s this person and she was ripped, and I mean she was much more ripped at that point when she was younger. Serena and Venus were the only two people dominating at that point,” she added.
The former Tennis superstar further said her first grand slam was the only time when none of her parents didn’t travel alongside her.
So, it was mad scary. But, it also made me grow up like overnight, not just as a person, but also as a tennis player, as an athlete. It just gave me so many experiences. And, in my first ever Grand Slam, my parents were not there, they were actually on a pilgrimage on Hajj because that was my last-minute entry into the Australian Open. And my dad and mom were praying in Mecca, and they had no idea I was going to play in the third round. And that was another person from the media who was praying with them. And he came to them and said, how do you feel? So, they were like, about what? This is a true story and not many people know this. And my dad was like, about what? Sania is playing Serena tomorrow and my dad was like, ‘what do you mean?’ He had no idea, they were all disconnected from life at that point. They were on a pilgrimage. And then my dad was like, “There were people coming to me, the media, and they were like, can you give an interview?” My dad was like –‘No.’ My dad was basically praying and when he came back and checked his phone, he had like 30 plus missed calls, and I had just won my second round. And being the first woman to ever do that. So, it was going mad. That was the only Grand Slam that one of my parents has not been with me in all these years,” she added.
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