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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Hemant Karkare killed by RSS-linked cop, not Kasab: Maharashtra LoP Vijay Wadettiwar
BJP writes to ECI for action against Cong leader Wadettiwar for 'defaming' Ujjwal Nikam
Mumbai, May 5: The BJP has written to the Election Commission of India seeking action against Congress and the opposition leader, Vijay Wadettiwar, for allegedly peddling lies and defaming its Mumbai North Central nominee and ex-26/11 prosecution lawyer Ujjwal Nikam.
Wadettiwar, the leader of the opposition in the Maharashtra legislative assembly, purportedly called Nikam an "anti-national" and accused him of hiding the information that then Maharashtra ATS chief Hemant Karkare wasn't killed by Kasab's bullet during the 26/11 terror attack, but fell to a bullet of a policeman affiliated to RSS.
His allegations were based on the book "Who Killed Karkare" written by retired police officer SM Mushriff.
"As a responsible leader, the opposition leader should desist from making such comments that can help the enemy nation," Nikam said.
Terming Wadettiwar's statements as "false and not based on facts", Mumbai BJP president Ashish Shekar claimed they were aimed at defaming Ujjwal Nikam and inciting emotions.
"We have written to the Election Commission of India seeking action against Wadettiwar who is a star campaigner (of Congress) and also against the Congress party for peddling lies," he added.
Shelar further said (Ajmal) Kasab was sentenced to death for killing innocent people after following a due process of law.
Kasab was the lone terrorist who was captured alive by Mumbai Police during the 26/11 terror attack by Pakistani terrorists in which at least 166 people were killed and several others were injured.
Shelar wondered whether Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray supported the statement made by the Congress leader.
A former special public prosecutor, Nikam had represented the state in high-profile cases like the Mumbai serial bomb blasts and the 2008 Mumbai terror attack.
He is making his political foray from Mumbai North Central seat on a BJP ticket and is pitted against city Congress chief Varsha Gaikwad.
