Tennis is very important but not everything in my life: Sania Mirza, on retirement

Sania Mirza, who is bidding adieu to tennis, says she never had the fear of losing in her heart because it makes a player defensive

Tennis is and will remain a significant aspect of Sania Mirza's life but the legendary player says that not treating the sport as the be-all and end-all gave her the freedom to unleash her aggressive game every time she stepped on court.

Sania, who is bidding adieu to the game, says she never had the fear of losing in her heart because it makes a player defensive.

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The 36-year-old conjured up wins against one the best players of her era — then US Open champion Svetlana Kuznetsova, Swiss legend Martina Hingis, Nadia Petrova, and Flavia Penneta.

Although she lost her singles matches to the legends of the game — Serena Williams and Venus Williams — she put up a decent fight when she was pitted against the American sisters.

"What made me that aggressive and that mindset was of actually not having the fear of losing," Sania told PTI in an interview.

"For me, tennis was always and is always going to be a very, very large and big and important part of my life, but it is not my entire life. And that is the mindset I went with, even as a young girl and as a professional athlete. The worst that can happen is that you can lose a tennis match and then come back and try again.