The 2022 season is set to be Sania Mirza’s last and for the Indian icon, nothing would be more satisfying than getting her hand on a trophy that has eluded her till now — the Wimbledon mixed doubles title.

And she is just two matches away.

With six grand slam titles (three in women’s doubles and three in mixed) under her belt, Sania would look to complete a career grand slam.

In mixed, she has already won the Australian Open (2009), French Open (2012) and the US Open (2014). In women’s doubles, the French Open has stayed out of her grasp.

She had last played in a grand slam final in 2016, winning the Australian Open women’s doubles final.

On Monday, Sania, with her Croatian partner Mate Pavic, made it to the semi-finals at SW19. Seeded sixth, the Indo-Croatian duo beat the fourth-seeded Australian-Canadian pair of John Peers and Gabriela Dabrowski 6-4, 3-6, 7-5 in one hour and 41 minutes at the All England Club.

The 35-year-old Sania last played in a grand slam semi-finals at the 2017 US Open in the women’s doubles, where she lost. It will also be her maiden appearance in the Wimbledon mixed doubles semi-finals. She was knocked out in the quarters thrice before, in 2011, 2013 and 2015.

Incidentally, this will also be her first last-four appearance at the grass-court grand slam since 2015, having won the doubles title then with Martina Hingis.

Paired with Czech Republic’s Lucie Hradecka, Sania was knocked out in the opening round of the women’s doubles event this year..

Sania had announced her retirement plans after her first round exit in the women’s doubles at the Australian Open. “I think I have achieved almost everything I could have ever dreamed about when I started out on this amazing game of tennis,” Sania had then told The Telegraph.

She had also set some realistic goals for her farewell year: “First things first, I would like to finish this year without having to face any major injury. It would be amazing, of course, if I could win a tournament or two in my final year on the circuit.”

And that goal may well come true this week if she manages to win the title.

“There is no one in the world who goes through his or her career and feels that he or she has had a flawless run in their chosen sport. That is the beauty of sport and makes it different from a Bollywood movie where you could incorporate a flawless story of achievements at will,” she had said.

But Sania’s career, and the inspiration she has been to hundreds of women fighting to take up sport as a career in India, is nothing short of a blockbuster.