LAHORE: India’s tennis star Sania Mirza visited Sports Board Punjab’s tennis stadium at the Nishtar Park Sports Complex on Tuesday and played tennis.

The 35-year-old Sania, who is the wife of Pakistan cricketer Shoaib Malik, on the occasion played tennis with Pakistan’s greats Aisam-ul-Haq and Aqeel Khan.

Talking to a Sports Board Punjab (SBP) official, Sania appreciated the standard of the facilities available at the tennis stadium.

“The SBP Stadium is equipped with all modern facilities; it will help a lot in producing top-class tennis players in future,” the Mumbai-born Sania, who won the 2015 women’s doubles title at Wimbledon alongside Martina Hingis of Switzerland, said.

Sania, the former top-ranked tennis player of India, reckoned Pakistan had plenty of tennis talent, adding the SBP stadium and academy would play a key role in further promoting the emerging male and female tennis players of the country.

Published in Dawn, December 1st, 2021