29 May,2009 02:10 PM IST | | PTI
Tennis ace Sania Mirza has got engaged to a Hyderabad-based businessman but her family has ruled out an immediate wedding or early retirement for the star.
The 22-year-old, who is the most successful woman tennis player of the country, will continue playing the game and her father Imran Mirza said it will take a while before the two families decide on when the wedding would take place.
"This is to confirm that Sania Mirza is engaged to Mr Muhammad Sohrab Mirza, whose family hails from the city of Hyderabad. Although not related, the two families have had friendly ties for several decades. However, the wedding is not expected to take place for a while," Imran Mirza said.
"I would like to state that the news appearing in certain sections of the media about the two maternal grandmothers having fixed the liaison is baseless. It has also been wrongly projected that Sania is contemplating early retirement from tennis. These reports are absolutely untrue," he said.
Sania's career has been marred by injuries and countless controversies but despite the off-court woes, she has been the lone flagbearer of Indian women's tennis internationally.
Sania was the first Indian to win a WTA singles title and earlier this year added an elusive Grand Slam title to her kitty when she combined with Mahesh Bhupathi to win the mixed doubles event at the Australian Open.
Sania is currently in Paris playing the French Open.
