Sania Mirza, India’s former doubles world number one, said she will hang up her boots up after next month’s Dubai Tennis Championships. I am sure Indian fans are going to miss her. Her rise as a tennis star is an inspiration to the entire country. She had revolutionised the way girls would approach sports in India. She became a star overnight. Young girls started dreaming to be Sania one day. Sania, regarded as her country’s greatest women’s tennis player, has won six Grand Slam doubles titles and will compete in her final major this month at the Australian Open, where she bagged the women’s doubles crown in 2016.

She became the first Indian to win a WTA singles title, when she won her hometown Hyderabad event in 2005. She broke into the top 30 by 2007 and reached her career-high ranking of world number 27. She will compete alongside Kazakhstan’s Anna Danilina at the Australian Open, which begins on Jan.16, before bidding farewell to tennis. We hope she stays around and keeps inspiring young girls to take up sports. India needs Sania for a different role. She can be a mentor for young girls. I am sure she will still keep inspiring Indian girls from outside the court.

Kavita Mishra,
By email