There are players who play the game and then there are players who inspire a whole generation to hold the racket in their hand and dream of smashing the green ball at a tennis court, one day. There are players, who play the game and there are players who somehow become bigger than the game itself. There are players who have tremendous records & stats and then there are players, whose impact and influence on & off the game surpasses their impeccable records. One such player is Sania Mirza, an icon, a living legend and one of the finest sport personalities, this country has ever seen.
In a country, full of cricket fanatics and male sports superstars, there was this lady, who was unconsciously changing the course of Indian sports, with every passing world tennis tournament. Sania’s unmatched resilience, patience and handwork has played a significant role in putting India on the Tennis world map and how?!
Mirza’s IG bio says : “Humour. Courage. Grace.“
And what better words to describe our queen, so, let’s go with these three.
𝗚𝗥𝗔𝗖𝗘
I close my eyes and think about tennis. What do I see? I see a fiery Sania, punching the air in delight in her follow through after scoring a game point via her smashing forehand. She is absolute magic on the court. Those sideways movements, touches, athleticism, serves, that sound of the ball, off her ‘racket nets’. Ufff. Grace personified.
Go to YouTube and search “Sania Mirza interviews”. Welcome to a rabbit hole. No matter, how much you see/listen her talk, you won’t get enough of her. The way she presents herself should be a chapter in SRK’s course of “How to win at interviews”. Grace personified. (2)
And how could I not touch on this. Isn’t she beautiful? Damn, she is. Graceful as anyone.
𝗖𝗢𝗨𝗥𝗔𝗚𝗘
“I have an inner rebel in me and I’m extremely stubborn as a person. You know, whether it was after injuries, whether it was after surgeries, you know, I have been written off may be 30 times in my life in last 20 years. Last time it happened, I came back and became no. 1 in the world” : Sania Mirza
You cannot, not be courageous and have career ranging over 20 years in any field of sport. But Sania, Sania defines courage. From being mocked by boys for playing tennis at a young age, to being questioned of her Indian-ness for marrying a male cricket player from a neighbouring country to getting trolled, left, right and centre by keyboard warriors of her own country for no reason, Sania has always been around controversies. But guess what?! None of these external factors ever dethroned her or put her down, she has fought every obstacle that came in her way. Her god level mental strength has time and again paved her way to greatness.
𝗛𝗨𝗠𝗢𝗥
WHAT A CHARACTER!
Sania once went to a press conference, wearing a t-shirt, which said “well behaved women, rarely make history”, lol. Mirza is bold, unapologetic, full of life, has a fantastic sense of humour and makes reels on Instagram. One of the few “the Kapil Sharma show” episodes that I like includes the one where Sania was featured with Farah Khan. She is so Bollywood, that If there will ever be a film made on her, I would love to see her play herself in that.
Thank you, Sania Mirza for existing. Thank you for playing Tennis. Thank you for inspiring millions of kids. Thank you for everything that you have done for this country and I am sorry on behalf of everyone, who has ever trolled you. Wish you a great life, post-retirement. Thank you.
Love and Respect.
Read my shit 