Melbourne: Indian tennis ace Sania Mirza's 2020 Australian Open campaign came to an early end after she had to pull out midway from her women's doubles first-round match on Thursday.
Mirza, who partnered with Nadiia Kichenok, were trailing in the second set before she was forced to retire with a calf injury.
The Chinese pair of Xinyun Han and Lin Zhu lead 6-2, 1-0 in the first round match against the Indo-Ukrainian pair before the 33-year-old tennis ace decided to stop the match owing to her injury.
According to a leading news agency, Sania injured her leg during practice.
The 33-year-old Indian tennis star had recently returned to the circuit after a two-year break at the Hobart International in which the duo emerged victorious. Sania was seen struggling to move freely on the court with her right calf heavily strapped.
Besides Sania, Kichenok was also seen struggling at the net, often missing easy put-away volleys. Serving at 2-4, Sania was broken by the Chinese and they served out the set easily.
The Indian took a medical timeout after the first set. Soon after, the Indo-Ukrainian pair was broken in the first game of the second set and Sania found it difficult to continue.
Earlier, Sania had also pulled out of the mixed doubles event, forcing compatriot Rohan Bopanna to pair with Kichenok.
Also representing India in the mixed doubles is veteran Leander Paes, who has teamed up with Jelena Ostapenko, who had won 2017 French Open. They are pitted against local wild card entrants Storm Sanders and Marc Polmans.
Sania has so far won three women's doubles grand slam titles. In the year 2015, she won Wimbledon and US open while she also won the Australian Open in 2016. In mixed doubles, Sania won the Australian Open in 2009, the French Open in 2012 and the US Open in 2014.
