Tennis / Bumped into each other in Hobart: Sania opens up on 1st meeting with Shoaib

Tennis ace Sania Mirza revealed how she met husband and former Pakistan cricketer Shoaib Malik for the first time before the duo eventually deciding to tie the knot. Sania and Shoaib got married on April 12, 2010 in Hyderabad followed by another ceremony in Sialkot, Pakistan. Sania has now opened up on their first meeting which took place at a restaurant in Hobart, Australia.

“We knew each other socially and then we bumped into each other at a restaurant in Hobart where you don’t even see animals/birds after 6 pm, forget people,” Sania told India Today.

“Must’ve been destiny that we met over there to be very honest. Only later I realized that he had actually planned to come to the restaurant because I was there. I was giving destiny all the credit but it was clearly not,” she added.

Sania recently confirmed that she will be back to competitive tennis at Hobart International in January 2020, two years after taking a maternity break. Sania gave birth to her first son, Izhaan, in October last year.

The 33-year-old, who last played at China Open in October 2017, will team up with Ukraine’s Nadiia Kichenok, the current world number 38.

“I am playing in Hobart, then I am playing the Australian Open. I am planning to play a tournament in Mumbai, which is a USD 25,000 (ITF women event) next month, but I am 50-50 about it, so let’s see how my wrist behaves. We will see, but Hobart and Australian Open (for sure),” she said at a press conference.

Sania, winner of six Grand Slam titles, said she is back to her best shape.

“There are a lot of changes when you have a baby. Your routine and sleep pattern changes. I (now) feel fit, my body is where it used to be before I had the baby. It was only six-seven months ago, where I thought about it as a realistic possibility,” she said.

Sania will partner American Rajeev Ram for the mixed doubles at the Australian Open.