Daijiworld Media Network - Mumbai

Mumbai, Nov 13: Parenting may be one of life’s most fulfilling roles, but for sports icon Sania Mirza, it comes with unique challenges — especially when raising a child under constant public scrutiny. In a heartfelt interview with News18, the former tennis champion shared how she is consciously helping her seven-year-old son, Izhaan Mirza Malik, navigate the pressures of being born into a family of “high achievers.”

Izhaan, son of Sania and Pakistani cricketer Shoaib Malik, may be just seven, but the expectations around him began even before he was born. “People would ask me if he’s going to play cricket or tennis,” Sania recalled. “I know they mean well, but it’s ridiculous that someone who wasn’t even born yet was expected to choose between two sports!”

While Izhaan enjoys playing football, Sania is determined not to let him feel compelled to follow in his parents’ sporting footsteps. “I’ve already spoken to him about the pressure that will come his way,” she said. “I’ve told him it’s perfectly okay to lose — and also okay not to play a sport at all if he doesn’t want to. People expect him to play because I’m his mother, but that’s not fair.”

Admitting that her son’s life will never be “normal,” Sania shared how she strives to balance reality with protection. “As parents, we must try to normalise his life as much as possible, but I also have to accept that I can’t fully do that. He isn’t born into a regular family, and denial would only make parenting tougher,” she explained.

Her realization deepened when Izhaan, then just four years old, asked why strangers knew her name and wanted photos with her. “For him, that’s normal,” Sania said. “But now he understands that things are different in our home. His friends’ parents go to nine-to-five jobs, while his mother doesn’t go to an office.”

Balancing motherhood and her professional commitments, Sania highlighted both sides of her lifestyle. “There are advantages — I’m there to drop him to school and pick him up. But there are also days when I have to be away for four or five days at a stretch,” she noted.

Interestingly, young Izhaan is already carving his own path, playing for the Under-8 football team of Juventus, showing that while he may come from a legacy of champions, he’s finding his own rhythm — with a mother who’s determined to let him be himself.