Hyderabad: Farah Khan shared a picture with her close friend and Indian tennis player Sania Mirza after bid an emotional adieu to the sport in her hometown of Hyderabad on Sunday at the venue where it all started for her as a 16-year-old.
Taking to Instagram stories, Farah treated fans with a glimpse of after-farewell party plans.
In the picture, Farah and Sania can be seen lying down on a bed in a relaxed manner while holding each other’s hands.
Sharing the picture, she wrote, “So this is what champions do after retirement.. chill in bed with their best friend #saniaevent. @mirzasaniar lov uuu.”
Farah and Sania are often seen together and keep on praising each other on social media.
Another close friend of Sania, actor Huma Qureshi also shared pictures with her from the farewell along with a sweet caption.
She wrote, “To my friend who is an inspiration to a whole generation of young girls & boys … This is the beginning of another glorious chapter my @mirzasaniar You bring your A game to every room that you walk in … I love you and admire you deeply . I first saw you live win Wimbledon in 2015 (a dream come true ) and since then our friendship has only grown. The only thing we fight over is our left profile while taking that selfie. May we always discuss life , love , experiences , fight over selfie angles and laugh out loud.”
Mirza played her two exhibition tennis matches at the Bahadur Stadium, where she made her WTA event debut back in 2003. She was playing as a wild-card entry at Hyderabad Open. A year later, she won the doubles title at the very same event with South Africa’s Liezel Huber.
It was the first title of Sania’s 44 WTA titles, out of which 43 came in doubles competition and only one in singles. She also clinched six grand slam titles and made four appearances at the summer Olympics in a decorated career that lasted for two decades.
She had earlier retired from professional tennis after Dubai Tennis Championships earlier this month.
Sania played two exhibition matches, featuring Indian tennis player Rohan Bopanna, India’s 2011 ICC Cricket World Cup winning all-rounder Yuvraj Singh and American tennis player Bethanie Mettek Sands – her ‘best friend’ and former doubles partner. She emerged victorious in both of her matches to the joy and delight of an excited home crowd.
The crowd featured plenty of youngsters and schoolchildren, who were cheering for her. The 36-year-old Sania was accompanied by her son Izhaan Mirza Malik and turned emotional on witnessing their reception.
“These are very, very happy tears. I could not have asked for a better send-off,” Sania Mirza explained.
Prominent personalities like former Indian sports minister and current Law minister Kiren Rijiju, former Indian cricket team skipper Mohammed Azharuddin, Yuvraj Singh, Bigg Boss 16 winner- rapper MC Stan, Mahesh Babu, A R Rahman, Dulquer Salmaan, Huma Qureshi, Diana Penty, also attended Sania Mirza’s farewell in Hyderabad.
Follow on Twitter | Posted by Mumtaz Hussain Bhat | 
