Sania Mirza's illustrious career comes to close with first-round defeat at Dubai Tennis Championships

DUBAI: Sania Mirza closed the chapter of her glorious career in tennis with a first-round defeat at Dubai Tennis Championships on Tuesday. The Indian legend lost her women's doubles 4-6, 0-6 alongside USA's Madison Keys against Russian pair Viktoria Kudermetova and Liudmila Samsonova at the Dubai Tennis Stadium.

Despite the defeat, Sania Mirza retires as the greatest Indian women's tennis player in history.

Sania Mirza, who is a six-time Grand Slam champion, has won 44 WTA titles throughout her career, only one of them was in singles.

Mirza's maiden win came in 2009 alongside Mahesh Bhupathi as the duo won the Australian Open mixed doubles title.

Sania had earlier bid farewell to the Grand Slam court as the runner-up along with Rohan Bopanna in the Australian Open mixed doubles final. Sania Mirza had earlier announced that she will hang her boots after the WTA 1000 tournament in Dubai.

Sania was born on 15 November 1985. Her father Imran Mirza, who was a sports journalist, brought Sania to the world of tennis at the age of six. Sania made her debut in the professional tennis circuit in February 2003. First, Sania focused on singles and then doubles.

Until her retirement in 2013, Sania was India's number-one ranked player in singles and at her peak reached the 27th position in the world ranking.

Due to her accomplishments in tennis, Sania Mirza has also been conferred with the Arjuna Award in 2004, Padma Shri in 2006, Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award in 2015 and the Padma Bhushan in 2016.

Sania's Grand Slams
Women Doubles
2015 - Wimbledon, with Martina Hingis
2015 - US Open with Martina Hingis
2016 Australian Open with Martina Hingis

Mixed Doubles
2009 - Australian Open with Mahesh Bhupathi
2012 - French Open with Mahesh Bhupathi
2014 - US Open with Bruno Soares