Sania Mirza on life after retirement: ‘Not competing at the professional level, but still part of the ecosystem'
After hanging up her tennis racket, Sania Mirza isn't done with the sports world. She is trading in her tennis shoes for a pickleball racket, and she's loving every bit of it. Sania says she is still deeply connected to the professional sports ecosystem, adding that pickleball is gentler on her body compared to tennis. Also read: Sania Mirza says breastfeeding was harder than pregnancy as she opens up about motherhood: 'I breastfed for 3 months'
In a candid conversation with Hindustan Times Digital, Sania shares her journey post-retirement, revealing how she has discovered a new passion in sports and is navigating the challenges of balancing her professional life as a mother.
After announcing her retirement in 2023, Sania is now working on building a robust ecosystem for sports globally.
'The entire life is an act of balance. Even when I was playing, there was a balance. And now, there's a balance that I need to find, and obviously, being a working woman, an entrepreneur, and a full-time mother, I think that's a balance that you just kind of need to find. But you just manage your time well,' Sania tells us.
The 38-year-old continues, 'You just try to have a good support system around you, and you balance it, and you just try to segregate and compartmentalise time as well as possible. And yeah, after retiring as well, I mean, I've always been connected to tennis. I was also connected to the world of cricket with the WPL, and now, I am part of pickleball'.
Here, Sania emphasises that sports is an integral part of her life, stressing, 'No matter what, sport is in my blood. Obviously, I'm not competing at the professional level, but I'm part of the professional sporting ecosystem'.
'I do play pickleball, maybe once a week or once every 10 days. It's a good cardio session for me instead of just going for a run or something like that. And, you know, one of the reasons that I stopped playing tennis competitively was because of just my body not being able to... And pickleball being a smaller court. It's easier on the body as well. So I really enjoy it. I have a lot of fun,' says the mother on one.
At the moment, Sania is enjoying pickleball both personally and professionally. She recently backed the first-ever Global Sports Pickleball Open in Dubai, which was hosted in collaboration with PickleTurf Pickleball Club Dubai and the Dubai Sports Council.
Sania considers promoting sports a privilege. 'Being an athlete for me, being involved in any kind of sport, and to grow any kind of sport is really close to my heart, and to be honest, there's nothing different with pickleball as well. With Pickleball, maybe a few years ago, people thought it was a fad and it's something that would go away, but I think pickleball is here to stay. It's a sport that has caught the imagination of a lot of people,' says Sania, who is also sports ambassador for Dubai.
Pickleball is the latest racket sport captivating Bollywood stars, with Ranbir Kapoor and Aryan Khan among its growing fanbase.
Ask Sania about the growing popularity of the sport, she says, 'Right now, it is being played more recreationally, but it's going to be played more professionally very soon. I think that, when I was growing up, tennis was a growing sport in the region; that was obvious, and you can see the growth of tennis where it's reached now. And pickleball is probably at those early stages of its life now as well.'
'It's more to just do, being a racket sport and playing a racket sport. There are similar experiences, but more than that, it's a lot of fun to play. Pickleball is something that it's a community sport,' she adds.
Sania had previously expressed regret over missing out on special moments with her son Izhaan during his childhood due to her demanding tennis schedule. Now, she is trying to make up for it.
'Mom guilt is so real and no matter how much you do or what you do, you just kind of feel like you're not doing enough sometimes. But it's important to remind yourself as a mother that you're doing your best and nobody cares about the child more than the parent does. So at the end of the day, you just try to make the most of the moments that you do have the most of the time, you try to spend as much time as possible,' says Sania, who was previously married to Shoaib Malik.
Explaining it further, the six-time Grand Slam champion shares, "And I think quality time is probably the way to go. And that's really what we try to do as well with my schedule, even with his schedule, with his schedule. You know, he's got school for most of the day and then, he's got his activities'.
'So we just bond a lot. We watch movies, we've got a movie day. We have a Sunday brunch right after his football match, which he usually has every Sunday. That's kind of where we're at. In terms of how we spend time together. As a mom, being there for a child and just spending time with them is, honestly, sometimes more than enough. You don't actually have to do anything,' says Sania as she signs off.
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