‘Want to be the best mother and best player I can be’: Sania Mirza eyes comeback to tennis in 2019

Starting gym training a few weeks after giving birth to her son, Indian tennis star Sania Mirza is eyeing a comeback to tennis late in 2019.

In an interview with the Times of India, the former World No 1 in doubles said she is not putting any pressure on herself over returning to the circuit, focussing on getting to her ideal weight before starting a full training schedule.

“I don’t have a specific date. Realistically speaking, I’m looking at late next year (2019). I need to take this slowly and be prepared,” Mirza said.

“I’m a perfectionist, anything I do I want to do it properly. I would like to come back and compete at the level I competed at. I want to be the best mother, best player I can be. I would like to be at the top level. You have to hope for the best, try and get back to that level. I am not putting any extra pressure on myself. There are a lot of changes taking place in the game, people are quitting, Lucie Safarova is retiring, Elena Vesnina just had a kid too. I will take a call as we go along, will cross that bridge when I come to it.”

Mirza and Pakistan cricketer Shoaib Malik announced the birth of their son, Izhaan, in October.

She posted a recent update on Instagram, saying “getting there ... slowly but surely.” The six-time major winner (three doubles and three mixed doubles) said she is not much of a planner but taking it one step at a time.

“I can’t wait to start playing again. Tennis is in my blood. It’s just that priorities change when you’re expecting. You want to have a healthy baby, you want to be healthy. At that point, I wasn’t thinking of tennis. I’ve never been a huge planner, what I would be doing one year later, or six months later or after the baby was born.

“So when I was pregnant, I saw no point in talking about what I would be doing after I gave birth, if I would come back or when I would come back. You don’t know how things are going to turn out.”