Sania ends Grand Slam career after finishing as runner-up in mixed doubles final
Melbourne (PTI): Trailblazing Indian tennis star Sania Mirza capped off her glorious Grand Slam career with a runners-up finish alongside 'best friend' Rohan Bopanna in the Australian Open mixed doubles final here on Friday.
Pairing up with her first-ever mixed doubles partner Bopanna, the unseeded Indian duo went down 6-7(2) 2-6 to the Brazilian pair of Luisa Stefani and Rafael Mataos in the final at the Rod Laver Arena.
"If I cry, these are happy tears. That's just a disclaimer. I'm still going to play a couple of more tournaments but my journey of my professional career started in Melbourne," an emotional Sania said as she struggled to hold back tears.
"Rohan was my first-ever mixed doubles partner when I was 14 and we won the nationals, it was 22 year ago and I couldn't think of a better person, he's my best friend and one of my best partners to finish my career," Sania said, thanking Bopanna, who has one French Open mixed doubles title to his credit.
The 36-year-old, who earlier announced that the WTA event in Dubai next month will be her swansong, is India's most accomplished woman tennis player, having won six Grand Slam title, including three mixed doubles trophies.
She had won the the mixed doubles titles at the 2009 Australian Open and the 2012 French Open with Mahesh Bhupathi and the 2014 US Open with Brazillian Bruno Soares.
The Rod Laver Arena has been a happy hunting ground for the Hyderabadi. She has a women's doubles and mixed doubles title each and has finished runner up four times at the Australian Open.
"It started in 2005 when I played Serena Williams in the third round as an 18-year-old and that was scarily enough 18 years ago. I have had the privilege to come back here again and again, win some tournaments here and play some great finals amongst you all.
"Rod Laver Arena has really been special in my life and I coudn't think of a better arena to finish my career at in a Grand Slam," Sania said.
The presence of her son Izhaan , alongside family and friends made the occasion sweeter.
"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 fell like home away from home.
"Cara Black who is my best friend and one of my first partners, it's been truly special I wouldn't be able to achieve anything without you all," Sania said.
The Indians were on the back foot from the beginning as they were broken in the very first game and were down 0-2.
But the two veterans managed to settle down after a nervy start, winning three games in a row to quickly take a 5-3 lead. The Brazillians, however, forced a tiebreak capitalising on Bopanna's poor service games.
With the momentum on their side, Stefani and Mataos took the tiebreak after saving a set point in the 12th game.
The Indians let the Brazillians dominate them in the second set as Sania failed to hold serve in the fourth and eighth game to concede the fixture.
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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.
