SaniaMirza talks about cross-border parenting in her latest chat

Sania recently spoke with Karan Johar on being a single parent, calling it a ‘daunting’ task.

SaniaMirza recently opened up to Karan Johar about being a single parent. Speaking to him, Sania said that being a single parent and doing cross-border parenting is a ‘daunting’ task.

SaniaMirza opens up about cross-border parenting.

SaniaMirza had married Pakistani cricketer Shoaib Malik in 2010 in a traditional Hyderabadi Muslim wedding ceremony in Hyderabad. The couple announced their first pregnancy on social media on April 23, 2018. Their son’s name isIzhaanMirza Malik. Then in 2024, the former tennis player’s family revealed that the couple had divorced some months earlier. Speaking to Karan Johar, she opened up on being a single parent to her son Izhaan and called it a ‘daunting’ task. She said, “For me, single parenting is hard, and also because we are working and we do so many different things.”

Karan Johar agreed that Sania’s situation is more ‘daunting.’

Initially, Karan said, “Have you seen the flipside? It is actually liberating because you’re not at crossroads with anybody else.” He then acknowledged Sania’s situation is more ‘daunting’ than his own. He said, “Your’s is cross border as well. You have a situation which is even more daunting and overwhelming.” Sania also revealed how challenging it is to leave her son in Dubai whenever she has to travel to India for work. She said, “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.” Sania also opened about loneliness being a single parent. She revealed, “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.”

SaniaMirza is a former doubles world no. 1 and has won six major titles during her career, three in women’s doubles and three in mixed doubles. From 2003 until her retirement from singles in 2013, she was ranked by the WTA as India’s No. 1 in singles.