Sania Mirza opens up about husband Shoaib Malik, the ruckus around her wedding and the struggle her family went through to make her a tennis player

Shoaib is very calm and that is annoying

Sania Mirza opens up about husband Shoaib Malik, the ruckus around her wedding and the struggle her family went through to make her a tennis player

    At 26 years, Sania Mirza rightly claims she’s seen much more than most her age. Earlier this year, she issued a public letter to the Indian Olympic Association addressing how unfairly she was being treated, a controversy that got so dirty that Sania had to postpone the release of her autobiography, Against All Odds. On the opening day of the Times of India Literary Carnival, Sania admitted to “those weeks in June” being the “saddest phase of my life” and that she wishes no player goes through what she did. Excerpts from a short chat...
How has your family, especially Shoaib, reacted to your autobiography? All the people close to me have read it and their response to it has been emotional. Shoaib wasn’t a part of my life at that time. But like everyone else, he had heard things. Even he was surprised to know how certain things happened or didn’t happen. I owed it to everyone to tell the truth.
Before you got married, you were engaged to someone else and not many know what happened. Will personal stories like that be a part of your book? Though not just about tennis, it is predominantly about the game because that’s why I’m here. It starts from the time I was four years old. We tried to live in America for a couple of years and I wanted to play. At that time, we couldn’t afford it for various reasons. Then we came to India and I started playing. The first thing my mum said was, ‘She couldn’t play tennis there but I want her to play tennis here’.
    We had to struggle as a family — stay away from each other, travel by car because it was cheaper. Once, we drove from Ahmedabad to Trivandrum, which took more than a day, because it was cheaper for the whole family to travel. And after all that travel, I would play. The book has many small details like this.
Your wedding turned into a spectacle and you were almost imprisoned in your own house for six days. How did you deal with that? Everyone — my family, parents — were all together. At that time, we found out who our real friends were. Shoaib’s family was there as well. He played a great part in keeping us together. As a girl, my main concern should’ve been how I was going to look at my wedding, but that was the last thing on my mind. Shouldn’t I have been thinking about what colour I should wear? For six days, we were almost locked in my house, because there were hundreds of media people outside. One midnight, we drove out for ice cream and were literally chased by people. No one wants to get chased like that for having an ice cream. No one wants experiences like that around their wedding. It is very hurtful.
    I am married to the person I wanted to marry, despite all those who wanted to disrupt it. I think people tend to forget that as celebrities, we are still human. We have the same emotions — we cry, have fun, laugh, feel sad and get hurt. When something is written about you, which millions of people are reading, and it is not true, imagine how hurtful it can be! With both of you keeping hectic schedules, how do you manage to find time for each other? I have a choice to stop playing and be with him and vice versa. But, if we want to be successful sportspersons, we have to give that priority to our sport and we both understand that.
Do you feel you are 26? No, I don’t feel like that. Not even my body feels like that because I’ve had three surgeries. I feel much older. Even mentally, I had to deal with things, people and judgements, which people don’t have to deal with till much later in life. Thankfully, I had a balanced family who taught me to speak what I felt and be true to my own self, which is why I am the person I am.

Sania Mirza

Sania Mirza