Former India tennis star Sania Mirza has returned to Hyderabad for Eid after spending tense days in Dubai, where she lives with her son, amid security concerns and uncertainty in the region. Mirza said she decided to travel to India after hearing fighter jets overhead and learning that debris from an intercepted projectile had fallen close to her home in Al Barsha. “We heard fighter jets above our house and saw interceptions,” Mirza said. “There was debris that fell around 400-500 metres from where we live.” While she said she never felt directly unsafe, the uncertainty – especially with a young child at home – prompted the decision to leave temporarily.
“You don’t want your child going through that. He was asking questions,” she said. “It didn’t feel unsafe, but it did feel uncertain and unsettling.” Mirza lives in Dubai for much of the year, where her seven-year-old son Izhaan goes to school. She said the family will decide when to return depending on how the situation develops.
“School is supposed to start next week, but we’ll monitor the situation,” she said. “I’m lucky that I can come back to Hyderabad and still have a home here with family.”
Eid homecoming
Mirza said returning to Hyderabad during Ramzan is along-standing tradition. “I come every Eid,” she said. “We try to spend the last week of Ramzan in Hyderabad because Ramzan here has to be experienced. It’s always nice to be around family.” Her son, she said, enjoys the visit as much as she does. “He loves coming to his grandparents because nobody says no to anything here,” Mirza joked. “He’s travelled a lot already, so he adjusts anywhere.”
Building the next Sania
Since retiring from professional tennis, Mirza has turned her focus to a new venture, Next Set, an initiative aimed at supporting young female athletes in India. “It’s more than a business,” she said. “It’s about helping the next generation. “Through the programme, young players are given access to coaches, physios, nutritionists and financial support so they can focus on training without worrying about the cost of support staff. Mirza said the idea came after years of being asked why India had not produced another player like her. “I got tired of answering that question,” she said. “So I thought I should try and do something about it.”
Long road to the top
Mirza believes India still has some distance to cover before producing another world-class women’s tennis player. “We need realistic goals first,” she said. “We want to see Indian women back in Grand Slams regularly and have players in the top 100 or top 150 of the world. “She said several factors – finances, infrastructure and the difficult transition from junior to professional tennis – often derail promising players. “There isn’t just one issue,” she said. “Sometimes players choose the college route for stability, sometimes it’s finances, sometimes infrastructure. “For Mirza, the aim now is simple: create an environment where talented young players get the support they need. “All they should have to do is focus on playing,” she said.