Sania Mirza pens down emotional post ahead of final Grand Slam tournament

Sania Mirza has penned down an emotional message regarding her retirement, saying the upcoming Australian Open will be her final Grand Slam outing.

Dubai Open in February will be her final tournament as a professional tennis player, Sania confirmed in a social media post on Friday.

The six-time Grand Slam winner, who started playing tennis at a tender age of 6, turned pro in 2003 and two years later, she made her maiden Grand Slam appearance.

"Thirty (yes, 30!) years ago a 6-year-old girl from Nasr School in Hyderabad, walked onto a tennis court at Nizam Club with her young mom and fought the coach to let her learn how to play tennis as he thought that she was too little. The fight for our dreams began at 6!" Sania wrote in her social media post.

Coincidently, Sania's first major event was the Australian Open. Sania had received a wild card entry into the Melbourne event, where they won the first round beating local player Cindy Watson in three sets. In the second round, Sania triumphed over Hungary's Petra Mandula in straight sets that set her a big third-round clash with legendary Serena Williams.

The American star beat India's Sania 6-1, 6-4 before going on to win the championship as well.

"I feel so blessed to have lived my dream while achieving my goals with my family by my side. It's been 20 years of being a professional athlete and 30 years of being a tennis player: It's basically all I've known throughout my life. My Grand Slam journey started with the Australian Open back in 2005. So, it goes without saying that this would be the most perfect Grand Slam to end my career with.

"As I get ready to play my last Australian Open 18 years after I played my first, and then the Dubai Open in Feb, have so many emotions flashing through me with pride and gratitude, perhaps, being the foremost. I take pride in everything have been able to achieve over the last 20 years of my professional career and I am so grateful for the memories that I have been able to create," added Sania, who is currently ranked No. 24 in the WTA doubles rankings.

"The greatest memory that I will carry with me for a lifetime is that of the pride and happiness that I saw on the faces of my fellow countrymen and supporters each time I achieved victory and reached milestones in my long career," the 36-year-old tennis player continued.

Sania Mirza: Can't wait to live a slightly quieter, calmer life

In the singles category, Sania's best Grand Slam finish was in the US Open 2005 when she reached the fourth round and 2011 Roland Garros was the last event where she played singles. However, she has won six Grand Slam trophies to date, three in doubles and three in Mixed Doubles. In 2015, during her time partnering with tennis icon Martina Hingis, Sania even ranked World No. 1 among women's doubles players.

"Life must move on and I don't think this is the end but, in fact, a beginning of many different memories to be created, dreams to be achieved and new goals to be set. My son needs me more than ever now and I can't wait to live a slightly quieter and calmer life while giving him more of my time than I have been able to give so far. Like they say, Game. Set. Celebrate!" concluded Sania.

Sania is set to enter Australian Open 2023 seeded eighth in women's doubles and is going to partner with Russian-born Kazakh tennis player Anna Danilina. These two recently competed in the Adelaide International 2, where they were eliminated following a Round of 16 loss.

Australian Open 2023 is scheduled to go underway on Jan. 16 and will go on till Jan. 29 at Melbourne Park.