Melbourne
\nIndian trailblazer Sania Mirza bowed out of Grand Slam tennis Friday with defeat in the Australian Open mixed-doubles final playing alongside Rohan Bopanna \u2014 her first playing partner 22 years ago.
\nThe 36-year-old Mirza, regarded as her country\u2019s greatest women\u2019s tennis player, returned to Melbourne Park for one last hurrah and made it all the way to the decider.
\nBut she and 42-year-old Bopanna were unable to get over the line, losing 7-6 (7\/2), 6-2 to Brazilian pair Luisa Stefani and Rafael Matos.
\nMirza was in tears in the post-match presentation ceremony.
\n\u201cRohan was my first-ever mixed-doubles partner at (aged) 14 and we won the nationals,\u201d said Mirza, a six-time Grand Slam champion, three in doubles and three in mixed.
\n\u201cIt was a long time ago, 22 years ago, and I couldn\u2019t think of a better person \u2014 he\u2019s one of my best friends and best partners \u2014 to finish my career here and to play the final.
\n\u201cThere\u2019s no better place for me, or person for me, to finish my Grand Slam career.\u201d
\nMirza, who is married to former Pakistan team captain Shoaib Malik, has a young son Izhaan and said it was incredible to play in front of him in a major final.
\n\u201cI never thought that I would be able to play in front of my child in a Grand Slam final, so it\u2019s truly special to have my four-year-old and my parents here,\u201d she said.
\nMirza, known as a feisty convention-breaker, was the first Indian to win a WTA singles title, in 2005 at her hometown Hyderabad.
\nShe reached the fourth round of the US Open the same year and by 2007 was among the women\u2019s top 30.
\nBut a wrist injury caused her to concentrate on doubles, forging a partnership with Swiss great Martina Hingis which produced three Grand Slam titles.
\nShe is due to retire from all tennis after a tournament next month in Dubai, where she has lived for more than a decade and recently launched a tennis academy.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Melbourne Indian trailblazer Sania Mirza bowed out of Grand Slam tennis Friday with defeat in the Australian Open mixed-doubles final playing alongside Rohan Bopanna \u2014 her first playing partner 22 years ago. The 36-year-old Mirza, regarded as her country\u2019s greatest women\u2019s tennis player, returned to Melbourne Park for one last hurrah and made it all […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":310240,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-310211","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports"},"yoast_head":"\n