‘Having a baby is not on my mind’

Friday, 15 April 2011

Things could not have been better for Sania Mirza. The trials and tribulations of life, love and her career are behind the Indian tennis ace. Injuries forgotten, Sania is now on song — she won the women’s doubles title at the Family Circle Cup in Charleston this week with Elena Vesnina of Russia; and before that, the women’s doubles title at California in the BNP Paribas Tennis Open with Elena again. This has taken Sania to the World No. 73 position in the WTA. The other landmark she’s celebrating is her first year of marriage to former Pakistan cricket captain Shoaib Malik; the couple celebrated their wedding anniversary on April 12. A sunny and cheerful Sania said, “Time has just flown.   It’s been magical. Elders say when time flies with your partner, things are going great; when it doesn’t, you need to worry.” Thankfully the elders, as is their wont, haven’t been pressurising the tennis player to have a baby yet. “That is the furthest thing on my mind,” exclaimed Sania, “Shoaib and I haven’t decided about parenthood. Even my parents have not brought it up yet. Things are going great right now. I’m 24 and there are years of tennis in me.” She talked about the arrows and slings of outrageous fortune in the past: “It is easy to write a person off, but it takes immense will power to bounce back. Due to my injuries I had time to get married, otherwise Shoaib would have had to wait. But I was angry, depressed with people telling me I didn’t have it in me to be at the top level. No one knows how it felt not to be able to hold a tennis racket or even a fork.” She credits her husband for boosting her self-belief. “He was my pillar of strength and gave me constant emotional support. He is the reason I was able to tide over the toughest time of my life. Shoaib is a fabulous cricketer, but he had to sit out, yet he conducted himself in an exemplary manner. His toughness rubbed off on me,” said Sania. Next, Sania wants to win an Olympic gold medal for India. “But before that I want to do well at Wimbledon and the French Open,” she said.

 

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