“I had a good support system around me, fortunately. My parents were good, my family and friends kept me grounded. It’s easy to lose your way with that much going on.”
On the subject of her husband, who will be supporting her in the crowd at Wimbledon this year, she said: “It’s good to be married to someone who understands sport and plays sport at the highest level.
“You don’t have to tell the other person to ‘shut up’ when you lose a match. You just keep quiet for a few hours and let them get over it! And in a marriage those things matter, believe it or not.”
Mirza was first coached by her sports journalist father and was only the third Indian woman to win a singles match at a Grand Slam tournament in the Open Era, in Australia in 2005.
But India, a country of 1.2 billion people, is still failing to transform all that female potential into success on the tennis court, despite Mirza’s example.
With Mirza now concentrating on doubles, India’s top-ranked woman in singles is 21-year-old Ankita Raina, the world number 289. India only has two women in the top 500, neither of whom has played in a Grand Slam tournament.
In contrast, while India have never been a major force in men’s tennis, there have been a number of male stars, especially on the doubles circuit – Mahesh Bhupathi, external and Leander Paes, external have won 26 Grand Slam titles between them.
“When I came on the scene, the question I was asked again and again was ‘who’s after you?'” said Mirza, who launched an eponymous tennis academy in Hyderabad last year.
“But I’m still the only one and have been for 10 years now. I finally thought I should do something about that, to try to keep the legacy of tennis in India going. Otherwise when I retire there won’t be anyone else.”
Sania Mirza was talking to World Service sports reporter Caroline Rigby.