DUBAI: The answer to the 'what next' question posed to the newly-retired Sania Mirza lay in her latest signing - mentor to the Royal Challengers Bangalore outfit for the inaugural Women's Premier League, starting in Mumbai on March 4.
Mirza, 36, who bowed out of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis championship late on Tuesday, is looking forward to guiding the next generation of Indian champions.
"This has nothing to do with cricket," she said of her appointment with RCB. "These younger girls have never been in positions where they've had so much money, millions riding on them."
The Hyderabadi, a former world No. 1 and six-time major winner, in the most popular of women's sports, said, "Many of them haven't been on TV, haven't done shoots for advertisements.
1/10:Sania Mirza bids tennis adieu
Getty Images
2/10:Last Dance
<p>Sania Mirza bid a tearful goodbye to the international tennis at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships<br /></p>Getty Images
3/10:Swansong
<p>Sania & Madison Keys went down 4-6, 0-6 to Veronika Kudermetova & Liudmila Samsonova in the first round<br /></p>Agencies
4/10:Admired
<p>Fans and friends from Hyderabad and locally in the Emirates packed the stand in the outside court<br /></p>Getty Images
5/10:'Son'shine
<p>Sania said she no longer has the drive for "the amount of work that goes into taking care of my body, the mental, emotional part of it"<br /></p>Agencies
6/10:The Champion
<p>The 36-year-old Sania, who turned Pro in 2003, walks out of competitive tennis with six Grand Slam titles<br /><br /></p>Agencies
7/10:Winning combo
<p>Sania won three women's doubles Grand Slam trophies with Swiss legend Martina Hingis<br /></p>Getty Images
8/10:Indian pair
<p>Two of Saina's 3 mixed doubles Grand Slam titles came with Mahesh Bhupathi & she won the US Open with Bruno Soares<br /></p>Getty Images
9/10:Farewell
<p>The 2023 Australian Open was Sania's last Grand Slam, where she ended up runners-up alongside Rohan Bopanna<br /></p>Reuters
10/10:Up next
<p>Having said goodbye to tennis, Sania will be seen as the mentor of RCB team in Women's Premier League<br /></p>IANS"It's so easy to get distracted, it's also easy to tense up and feel the pressure because there's so much expectation on you. I'll be able to share my experiences and make them feel more comfortable with the transition. It's a huge deal for a lot of people to be playing for teams that have put so much money in it."
"It's great because it gets me to do something that I want to do. I'm able to share my experience in trying to make women's sport better and more accepted, for the future in the subcontinent."
Mirza, who has been at the forefront of women's issues, has also constantly been asked about being a Muslim woman in sport, she argued that while religion was a personal space, her achievements underlined great possibilities.
"Every time I step on the court, I'm not really thinking, I'm this Muslim woman that's trying to do this. I don't think a Christian or Hindu is doing that. I don't look at it like that," she said.
