Sania Mirza opens up on parenting after divorce during chat with Karan Johar

Indian tennis player Sania Marzi married Pakistani cricketer Shoaib Malik in 2010 and became parents to Izhaan Mirza Malik on April 23, 2018. The former couple got divorced sometime in 2023. Sania's family announced the news in January 2024 sharing that Sania and Shoaib parted ways seven months earlier.

During a podcast conversation with Indian filmmaker Karan Johar, Sania Mirza shed light on the challenges she has faced as a single mother.

Sania Mirza says single parenting is a "daunting" task

During Sania Mirza's Serving It Up With Sania, the former tennis star said that being a single parent to Izhaan has been hard. She said, "For me, single parenting is hard, and also because we are working and we do so many different things".

In response to Sania's comment, Karan Johar, a single parent to two children himself, said, ""Have you seen the flipside? It is actually liberating because you’re not at crossroads with anybody else".

However, Karan Johar went on to talk about how the situation is more challenging for Sania Mirza due to the cross-border parenting. "Your’s is cross border as well. You have a situation which is even more daunting and overwhelming", Karan said.

Sania Mirza went on to add how difficult it is for her to travel for work to India while leaving her son behind in Dubai. "I find it challenging to leave him because I live in Dubai and I travel to India. That’s the biggest challenge for me to stay away for a period of one week. That for me, is the hardest part, anything else I’m fine with", she shared.

In a more vulnerable moment, the former doubles World No 1 talked about the loneliness that is inherent with being a single parent. "Amount of times that I have skipped dinner because I didn’t want to eat alone. I think it helped me lose weight. I don’t feel like eating dinner. I would rather just watch something and sleep", said Sania.

A successful tennis player, Sania Mirza retired from professional tennis in 2023.

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