-Boria Majumdar
It was just a few weeks after she had Izhaan and Sania was yet to shed off the baby weight. Making it back to competitive tennis was light years away and with nothing left to prove to anyone, it was tough to imagine she would give it one more shot and attempt one final comeback. But that’s Sania. Destinies child who loved to defy the odds. Shedding 26 kilos in a matter of months, her comeback was for all mothers than simply for herself. “Yes it was a way of telling every woman that motherhood isn’t the end of anything. Rather, it is just another step in a woman’s life and you don’t need to give up on anything as a mother if you don’t wish to. If I could make it back to competitive tennis within months, anyone could get back to work and do all things they love doing”, Sania was matter of fact. Then came out the whipping forehand, “If anyone felt they could body shame me, I am sorry I wasn’t the one to fall for it. I wanted to be a mother and thereafter wanted to shed off the weight to do what I wanted to do. Nothing else mattered to me and I never had any hesitation in putting up my pictures on social media”.
That’s Sania Mirza for you. A story in herself. Young and supremely successful, she has always been controversy’s favourite child. Despite her stupendous achievements, it had taken time for people to accept that she is indeed brilliant at what she does. That she plays quality tennis like no other Indian woman has ever done before. That she can make a grand slam final in her final major and script history. With a taped calf, keep giving fans all across the world tremendous joy. That behind all the glamour was a hard core professional who went under the knife multiple times to keep her career going. Not only did she dare to dream, she also dared to fulfil most of what she had dreamt of achieving.
Now that she has decided to call it a day, we will see her in Dubai one last time next month, it is indeed time for a look back. Celebrate a career that is like no other. Sania has won Grand Slams. 6 of them. She had even won a title at SW19 as a junior in 2003 coming up the ranks. But in all her titles the 2015 Wimbledon crown is what will forever define the Sania narrative. That win is her story in a nutshell, to win against all odds. First, she was going into the tournament as the world’s number one ranked doubles player, a feat no Indian has achieved before and no Indian looks like achieving in the next decade at least. Second, the expectation was on Sania and her Swiss partner Martina Hingis to justify their number one seeding, to prove that the phenomenal run they were enjoying, can indeed continue at the Slams and that the French defeat was an aberration. Finally, this was the only Grand Slam Sania was missing and frankly back home this is the Slam that matters to every sports fan. This win, coming after a night of phenomenal tennis, had the effect of galvanizing the entire country.
Winning at Wimbledon was always something she wanted to do and to win her first women’s doubles slam at Wimbledon was a dream come true for the Indian legend. And for Indian tennis, it was a milestone. Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi had turned a new leaf by winning one title after another at the turn of the millennium. Women’s tennis, however, never managed that giant leap. Sania was alone. She continues to be alone to be honest. But with the 2015 win she had the Wimbledon title in her resume. She was champion at tennis’ biggest stage.
It is tough to imagine India will soon have another Sania Mirza. Coming from where she has and to make it to the very top of her sport, it has been a career like no other. Australian Open is celebrating her today as one of the icons of her sport. And as we celebrate her in her last month as a professional tennis player, it is time to say she isn’t finished yet. Every match she plays still is an opportunity to consume her for one more time. To know that dreams do come true and hard work has no substitute. Sania Mirza was a trailblazer and will forever remain one in the annals of Indian sport.