Sania Mirza makes BIG statement, says she is ‘kind of regretting’ after announcing retirement

India's star tennis player Sania Mirza on Tuesday (January 25) said she made the announcement of retirement from the sport too soon and now she is 'regretting' it as that's all the 35-year-old is being asked about right now.

Mirza and her American partner Rajeev Ram's mixed doubles campaign at the Australian Open 2022 came to an end after losing their quarter-final match in Melbourne on Tuesday. The unseeded pair lost the match 6-4, 7-6(5) in one hour and 30 minutes.

Post-match while replying to the question of former tennis player Somdev Devvarman on Sony Sports Network, Mirza said: "I made the announcement [retirement] too soon, to be very honest. I'm kind of regretting it because that's all I'm being asked about right now."

Thank you for the memories, @MirzaSania 

The two-time #AusOpen doubles champion has played her final match in Melbourne.#AO2022 pic.twitter.com/YdgH9CsnF0 — #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) January 25, 2022

Earlier, Sania Mirza made a first-round exit from the women's doubles with her Ukrainian partner Nadiia Kichenok. After that defeat, Mirza announced that 2022 will be her last season.

Mirza added that she just want to simply enjoy the game. The tennis player said: "I am playing tennis to win matches, and until I play I am going to try and win every match I play. It's not something [post-retirement outlook] that's on my mind constantly. I enjoy playing tennis, you have known me for a long time, win or lose."

"I still have the same outlook to it. I will give my 100 per cent, sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. But I'm still in it 100 per cent for the rest of the year. And I don't really want to think about what's going to happen at the end of the year. I still want to win everything I play," the six-time Grand Slam champion added.

With Sania Mirza's loss, India's challenge at the Australian Open 2022 came to an end. Mirza had won the Australian Open mixed doubles title in 2009 with Mahesh Bhupathi and the women's doubles title with Martina Hingis in 2016.