Australian Open: Sania Mirza left teary-eyed during emotional farewell speech
Melbourne: Indian tennis star Sania Mirza turned emotional as she bid farewell to the Australian Open at the Rod Laver Arena on Friday.
Mirza, who recently declared her retirement from professional tennis, and Rohan Bopanna went down in the final of the mixed doubles event of Australian Open on Friday. In the match lasting 1 hour and 27 minutes, the duo lost 6-7(2), 2-6 to the Brazilian pair Luisa Stefani and Rafael Matos, reports News18.
Speaking to the tournament organizers after the match, a teary-eyed Mirza said, “I’m still gonna play a couple more tournaments but the journey of my professional career started in Melbourne. It started in Melbourne in 2005 when I played Serena Williams in the third round here as an 18-year-old.”
Reminiscing her relationship with the Rod Laver stadium, she added, “I’ve had the privilege to come back here again and again and win some tournaments here and play some great final amongst you all, and Rod Laver Arena has really been special in my life. And I couldn’t think of a better arena to finish my career at in a Grand Slam. So thank you so much for making me feel at home here.”
The presence of her son Izhaan along with family and friends apparently made the occasion sweeter for her.
“I never thought I’d be able to play in front of my child in a Grand Slam final, so it’s truly special for me, to have my four-year-old here and my parents here, and Rohan’s wife, my trainers, my family in Australia who made me feel like home away from home,” Mirza said.
She had earlier announced that the Dubai WTA event in February would be her swansong.
Mirza, who has six Grand Slam titles to her name – three in women’s doubles and three in mixed doubles – in her career, won her first Grand Slam title at the Australian Open in 2009, with Mahesh Bhupathi. She also won the 2012 French Open mixed doubles title with Bhupathi and 2014 US Open mixed doubles with Brazilian player Bruno Soares.
All her three women’s doubles titles were with Swiss tennis ace Martina Hingis – Wimbledon 2015, US Open 2015 and Australian Open 2016.
“My professional career started in Melbourne… I couldn’t think of a better arena to finish my [Grand Slam] career at.”
— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) January 27, 2023
We love you, Sania ❤️@MirzaSania • #AusOpen • #AO2023 pic.twitter.com/E0dNogh1d0
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Will allow only individuals with more than two children to contest local body polls: Andhra CM
Tirupati (Andhra Pradesh) (PTI): Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu said that an individual can become a sarpanch, municipal councillor or a mayor only if he/she has more than two children, hinting that it will arrest the falling population.
Naidu said he will bring out policies to encourage people to have more children.
"At one time, individuals with many children were not allowed to contest the panchayat (election) or local bodies. Now what I am saying is that individuals with lower numbers of children cannot contest. You will be a sarpanch, municipal councillor, corporation chairman or a mayor only if you have more than two children," he told reporters in Naravaripalle here recently.
According to the CM, North India may lose its advantage of having a stable fertility rate in about 15 years.
The TDP supremo noted that the older generations had more children, while the current generation brought it down to one child and also highlighted that some 'smart' people nowadays are going for double income no kids (DINK) concept to enjoy.
"Your parents bore four to five children and you reduced it to one. Even smarter people now are saying double income no kids let us enjoy. If their parents had thought like them, they would not have come into this world," he said.
All countries made this mistake, and we have to make the decision at the right time, said Naidu, adding that the importance of having more children was not stressed and the situation went out of hand.
Citing countries like South Korea and Japan and continental Europe, he said people in those places did not realise the danger of plummeting populations but only focused on creating wealth, raising income and taking those countries forward.
"Now they need people, we have to send them. We came to that situation," Naidu added.
Early this month, Naidu flagged the falling birthrates and said India should not repeat the mistakes committed by other countries such as South Korea and Japan, where birthrates have plummeted.
The CM said some couples are averse to having children nowadays because they do not want to share the money they earned and use those riches for their own enjoyment.
Naidu, in October last year, said there was a need to manage the population in Andhra Pradesh given that there will be an increase in the aging population.
"Till 2047, we will have the demographic dividend, there will be more youngsters. After 2047, there will be more old people…if less than two children are given birth (per woman), then the population will reduce. If you (each woman) give birth to more than two children, then the population will increase," Naidu had said.
