On Sania Mirza's retirement announcement, Wimbledon says, 'will miss you'

Tennis star Sania Mirza is likely to retire from Wimbledon, as the tournament board on Monday, honouring the sportsperson said, "We will miss you."

"It has been an honour having you here, Sania. We will miss you," In a tweet, Wimbledon board said. This came after 35-year-old Mirza in a message recently said, “It has been an honour to represent India in Wimbledon." 

Winner of six Grand Slam titles, including three mixed doubles trophies, Mirza will retire as India's most accomplished woman tennis player.

This year, Sania is paired with Mate Pavic for mixed doubles. The duo advanced to the quarter-finals after their second-round opponents Ivan Dodig and Latisha Chan gave them a walkover. The sixth-seeded pair will face Australian-Canadian pair of John Peers and Gabriela Dabrowski on Tuesday. 

Sania and Pavic had beaten the unseeded pair of Georgia's Natela Dzalamidze and Spain's David Vega Hernández 6-4, 3-6, 6(10)-6(3) in one hour and 58 minutes.

The 35-year-old Tennis star had earlier this year announced her retirement plans at the Australian Open. Mirza had said she would hang up her racquet at the end of the 2022 season as her body is "wearing down" and the motivation and energy for everyday grind was not the same anymore.

"There's a bunch of reasons for it. I do feel my recovery is taking longer and considering my son is three years old, I do feel I am putting him at risk by travelling so much with him. Unfortunately, the pandemic is making us take a certain decisions for the well-being of ourselves and family," Mirza had then said at the Australian Open. 

She had added, "Also, my body is wearing down. My knee was really hurting today and I'm not saying that's the reason we lost but I do think that it is taking time to recover as I'm getting older."