Sania Mirza suffers setback due to injury; withdraws from Australian Open

Sania Mirza's fairy tale return to professional tennis ended after she had to withdraw following an alleged calf strain on Thursday. Mirza was playing in the first round of the women's doubles at the Australian Open when she suffered the setback.

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Mirza's setback

Mirza and her partner Nadiia Kichenok were playing against Xinyun Han and Lin Zhu in the first round of the women's doubles and were in the second set when she withdrew from the tournament. This comes a day after Mirza withdrew from the mixed doubles category citing an injury. The score was 6-2, 1-0 when the play stopped. 

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Mirza made a return to professional tennis after a two-year maternity gap last week. She competed in Hobart Internationals alongside Kichenok and won the tournament. She had said that she was making steady progress and was excited to be back. 

Although she said that she had not set any targets on her return, there were hopes for her to go the distance in the inaugural Grand Slam of the year. 

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