'Mental toughness set Sania Mirza apart from the rest'

Sania Mirza’s father and coach Imran Mirza talks about the phenomenal career of his star daughter.SANIA IN THE MAKINGIn tennis, it is not possible to come up without a struggle despite the money you have. It is very risky, but we managed to find sponsors. We had to take a lot of nonsense from a lot of them funding her because she did not have a name then. They were doing it almost like a favour. There was a time when for a junior we needed around Rs 50 lakh per year for her travel. You cannot make it to the professional circuit without playing at the junior level, especially coming from India.

Ace Tennis player Sania Mirza bids farewell to her Grand Slam career

We have always been a sporting family. There are mostly cricketers in the family who played and enjoyed the game at various levels. We followed tennis also closely. I thought tennis would be a better choice for a girl. My wife put her in Nizam Club when she was six years old. Within a week I got a call from the coach that I need to come and watch her play.

For six months, I avoided. Then we were also struggling financially. I had to leave work. But when I did go, I could see it. I also used to cover sport at that time. Then it was not like she is going to win Wimbledon. It was more like she will become something in the state, get a rank in India. We enjoyed every moment, whether it was state ranking U-10, where she reached the final.

As Sania Mirza retires from her glorious tennis career, look at what made her a good doubles player

We completely removed parental pressure from her game. It was never about winning, always about enjoying the game. She kept on performing, we kept on encouraging her. At 14 she was the youngest to play junior Wimbledon and won a round