Sania Mirza bids adieu to Wimbledon with semifinal loss in mixed doubles
Wimbledon(PTI): Trailblazing Indian tennis star Sania Mirza's swansong appearance at Wimbledon ended in a semi-final defeat to defending champions Neal Skupski and Desirae Krawczyk in the mixed doubles event here.
Mirza and her Croatian partner Mate Pavic, seeded sixth, went down 6-4 5-7 4-6 to Skupski of Great Britain and American Krawczyk in two hours 16 minutes on Wednesday night.
The 35-year-old Mirza is India's most accomplished woman tennis player, having won six Grand Slam titles, including three mixed doubles trophies. She was aiming to complete a Career Slam in mixed doubles.
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 tears, fight and the struggle.. the work we put in is all worth it in the end ..it wasn't meant to be this time at Wimbledon but you have been nothing but spectacular its been an honor to play here and win here over the last 20 years ..i will miss you Until we meet again," Mirza tweeted on Thursday.
Mirza and Pavic, both multiple-time Grand Slam winners, dominated the first set on the back of a strong serve.
Mirza, who is in her last year on tour, and Pavic looked on course to sealing the match as they led 4-2 in the second set but the duo lost five of the next six games as Skupski and Krawczyk, seeded second, forced the decider.
In the decider, Mirza and Pavic drew first blood as they broke their opponent's serve but were immediately broken back. In the 12th game, Pavic double faulted twice with Skupski and Krawczyk converting the match point.
This is Mirza's best mixed doubles performance at the All England Club. She had previously reached the quarterfinals in 2011, 2013 and 2015.
Mirza, a six-time Grand Slam winner, had earlier announced that she would hang up her racquet at the conclusion of the 2022 season.
The 35-year-old Indian star has now bid farewell to Wimbledon having won a women's doubles title in 2015, pairing Martina Hingis.
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Congress promises Rs 2,500 to women per month if voted to power in Delhi
New Delhi, Jan 6: Ahead of the Delhi assembly polls, the Congress on Monday announced 'Pyaari Didi Yojana', promising a monthly financial assistance of Rs 2,500 to women if voted to power in the national capital.
The scheme would be rolled out on the lines of the model adopted by the Congress government in Karnataka.
AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal in December last year announced the launch of the 'Mukhya Mantri Mahila Samman Yojna' to give a monthly assistance of Rs 1,000 to women in Delhi, and promised the amount would be raised to Rs 2,100 after the elections.
During a public rally on Sunday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi assured the people of Delhi that no welfare scheme will be discontinued if the BJP forms the government and made a strong appeal to them to get rid of the Kejriwal-led party.
Announcing the scheme, Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar said it aims to financially empower women, promising that it would be implemented at the first Cabinet meeting of the new government.
"Today, I have come here to launch the Pyaari Didi Yojana. We are confident that a Congress government will be formed in Delhi, and on the first day of the new Cabinet, we will implement the scheme to provide Rs 2,500 to every woman in the capital," Shivakumar said.
"Whatever and wherever Congress has promised in the nation or state level, we have delivered and we are going to deliver," he said.
Within three months after coming to power, all the guarantees were implemented in Karnataka.
Women in the entire state travel free in buses, 10 kg of rice is being given to every household, about Rs 3,000 given to the unemployed youth, 200 unit of electricity, and Rs 2,000 is being to every women. Additionally, 1.22 crore women are getting Rs 2,000 every month, he said.
After implementing the guarantees of Congress in Karnataka, every family there is saving Rs 4,000 to 5,000, which has brought a big change in the lives of crores of people and on the basis of the same success, Congress party will work to bring a change in the lives of people in Delhi too, he said.
While addressing media, Delhi Congress chief Devender Yadav said that their tag line would be "Hogi har jarurat puri, Congress hai jaruri" (every need will be fulfilled, Congress is needed).
Yadav claimed that there is an an impostor in Delhi who is continuously working to show people dreams.
It is been 11 years and the condition of Delhi is deteriorating, he said.
"I am happy that we have announced the scheme through Shivakumar. In coming days, we will come with many such schemes which are very important for Delhi," the Congress leader said.
After the formation of the Congress government in Delhi, in the first Cabinet, a decision will be taken to give Rs 2,500 per month to each woman under women empowerment and social welfare for the half of the population of Delhi and this amount will be deposited in their accounts every month, Yadav said.
"We assure the people of Delhi that when Congress party comes to power here, we will implement the Congress schemes with the same faith and determination as we had implemented in Karnataka, Telangana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, and earlier in Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan," he claimed.
Yadav later concluded his address to media by saying that "Karnataka ne ki hai umeedein puri, Delhi ne kaha hai Congress hai jaruri" (Karnataka has fulfilled all the expectations, Delhi said that Congress is needed).
Elections to the 70-member Delhi Assembly are due in February.
Yadav, the party's Delhi in-charge Qazi Nizamuddin, and other senior leaders were present during the announcement.
