Realistic possibility for comeback is by the end of the year, asserts Sania Mirza

Realistic possibility for comeback is by the end of the year, asserts Sania Mirza

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India's tennis star Sania Mirza Is planning to make a return to the game by end of the year following the birth of her baby. The 32-year-old had last played competitive tennis at the China Open in 2017, where she suffered a knee injury and was out of competition in the early part of 2018.

With a possibility of making a comeback later this year, Mirza has disclosed her plans about returning into the international fold before 2019 ends, reflecting to which she said, "Realistic possibility for comeback is by the end of the year, My conditioning trainer is coming in the next ten days. Now that I have lost weight, I do tennis specific training.”

"I am 32 years old, I am not so young as a tennis player. But I would die if I did not try. Tennis is my life, it has given me everything. I still have it in me.” she added.

Mirza, who is also coming back after the birth of her 1st child, has said that she looks to German legend Steffi Graf, who won 22 Grand Slam titles and achieved a lot even after marriage and having a kid as inspiration.

"Steffi Graf is someone I look up to. I am still star struck whenever I see her. She is a great example because people say a woman cannot have to it all, but she had it all," she said in the interaction with PTI.

"She is the greatest player. She married and had kids and achieved many things in life despite it."

Talking about her favourite player, Sania said, "I will go with John McEnroe because he had personality. I don't smash rackets, but it is fun to watch others do that."

She also said she had the backing of parents and current Indian captain Mahesh Bhupathi in the initial stages of her career. Replying to one of the querys, Sania said tennis cannot compete with cricket in terms of popularity as a billion people prefer to watch cricket more than tennis.

Sania emphasised on India doing well in different sports, but in tennis it is not quite there, she said, "We are a country of a lot of people. We need to have more people making it to the top. I do regret that there isn't any system to promote players to the top level.”

"We are doing better as a country in different sports, but in tennis we are not quite there," she added.

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