Former Indian tennis ace Sania Mirza recently talked to BBC Urdu, the first long interview she has given after her divorce from Pakistani cricket star Shoaib Malik. She talked about why she decided to stop playing tennis, how her life has changed, and what she learned from her sports career.
The 37-year-old elaborated on her retirement decision, emphasizing the physical demands that influenced her timing: “A lot of people asked about my decision to retire. I wanted to stop on the top. It was very important to me.”
The sports star talked more about how her body didn’t bounce back as quickly after tough matches as it used to. “My body had become a huge problem after three surgeries and having a kid as well. The recovery wouldn’t proceed the way it was needed.” Even though she was winning, people didn’t see the hard work she put in behind the scenes. She said, “People would see that I was playing finals but they couldn’t see what I had to do to get there.”
Talking about how people see her, Mirza talked about how she handles criticism. “I don’t think I feel that people are after me but I do understand and realise that not everyone can like you in the world. Everyone in your family can’t like you, then how would everyone in the world like you?”
She talked more about how she deals with being famous and what people think of her: “Everyone has different opinions, choices, likes, and dislikes. It’s not a personal attack on you.”
In the last ten years, Mirza said she has changed a lot personally, especially in how patient she’s become. She thinks being a mom has played a big part in that. She said, “I have definitely developed more patience. I think that is something that has happened both with my age and my child’s birth. I think when you become a mother, you don’t have a choice other than being patient.” She talked about how she used to be more impulsive but now she thinks things through more.
Mirza talked again about what she said before about staying down-to-earth even when you’re famous. She said, “I think the world we live in today, be it social media or as in my case, fame, you have so many people around you telling you nice things. It’s very important that you also have people who tell you the truth.”
“The most important things in life are not money and fame. They are nice to have, but not the most important. What really matters is who supports you when times are tough, and who you’re willing to stand up for.”
She compared sports to life, saying that the skills learned on the tennis court help in everyday situations. “The same principles apply in life because they build your personality. The lessons I’ve learned from sports, I don’t think there’s a book in the world that could teach me the same,” she mused.
“Bad days don’t last. Good days also don’t last but you have to try to stretch those good days and if you had a bad day, then the next day, you have to try and make it better.” Mirza summed up the guiding ethos of her professional and personal life.
