Australia Open 2020: Sania Mirza's campaign comes to an end, retires from women's doubles due to calf injury

Sania Mirza's return to the grand stage came to an abrupt end as the tennis star retired during the women's doubles first round match at the Australian Open owing to a calf injury. On Wednesday, the Indian ace had pulled out of the mixed doubles event but decided to participate in the women's doubles along with Ukrainian Nadiia Kichenok.

After she made her return from maternity leave, Sania partnered Kichenok to win the Hobart International tournament last week. The Australian Open was Sania's comeback after staying away from the sport for nearly 27-months.

Sania and Kichenok were up against China's Xinyun Han and Lin Zhu in the first round. Sania called it quits when the duo were down 2-6, 0-1 against their Chinese opponents. During the match, Sania injured her calf during practice and went into the match with her right calf heavily strapped. The 33-year-old struggled with her serve and her movements on the court. She took a timeout during the first set, before calling it quits during the second set.

The exit will be a tearful one for the former World No. 1, who was looking to make a statement, having not played a Grand Slam since reaching the semifinal at US Open 2017. Sania has lifted the Australian Open trophy twice. She won the mixed doubles event with Mahesh Bhupati in 2009, and then emerged victorious in the women's doubles with Martina Hingis.

After Sania pulled out of the mixed doubles, her partner Rohan Bopanna was forced to compete with Kichenok. India has more representation in the tournament, in the form of Leander Paes. Paes is participating in the mixed doubles with Jelena Ostapenko.

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