Sania Mirza of India returns the ball to Kaia Kanepi of Estonia during their match on the third day of the WTA Dubai Tennis Championships February 17, 2009.—Reuters

NEW DELHI Leading Indian player Sania Mirza has become engaged to a business scholar from her hometown of Hyderabad but has no plans to retire from competitive tennis, domestic media reported on Friday.

The 22-year-old Mirza is a youth icon in a nation starved for sporting success after she became the first Indian to win a WTA tour title and break into the world's top 50 in 2005 but has struggled to live up to early expectations.

The pair are unlikely to tie the knot in the near future, as her 23-year-old fiancé Sohrab Mirza plans to pursue higher studies, reports quoted family members as saying.

Mirza has been plagued by injuries over the last two seasons but has continued playing despite being frustrated by a series of court petitions attributed mostly to people trying to grab media attention.

She also had to fend off the ire of Muslim clerics opposed to her playing in normal tennis attire.—Reuters