Sania Mirza salutes fellow mom Serena Williams: Comeback one of the toughest things in life

Serena Williams and Sania Mirza

India tennis ace Sania Mirza identified with USA's Serena Williams, who went down fighting to Japan's Naomi Osaka in the semi-finals of the Australian Open in Melbourne on Thursday.

Both Mirza, 34, and Williams, 39, became mothers not too long ago (Williams delivered daughter Alexis Olympia Jr on September 1, 2017 while Mirza gave birth to son Izhaan on October 30, 2018) and as the American continues to be an inspiration, excelling on court post-motherhood, Mirza saluted her.

"Making a comeback to the game [post-motherhood] is one of the toughest things in life and that's why Serena deserves so much credit, not just to come back, but also to find that motivation to fight. It's extremely tough after giving so much, to still go out there and put out this effort," Mirza told mid-day during an online interaction with select media after Williams lost 3-6, 4-6 to Osaka.

Successful comeback

Mirza made a successful comeback to the court in early 2020, winning the WTA Hobart International doubles title with partner Nadia Kichenok. She also helped India reach the Fed Cup World Group play-offs for the first time in March last year before the COVID-19 pandemic put a stop to everything.

Mirza explained how tough a job it is for young mothers to juggle personal and professional commitments. "You're a young mother, you have a young child and there are a lot of needs for children, especially when they are very young. Mothers are the main caretakers for the first few years of their life. It [comeback to tennis post-motherhood] has been one of the hardest things I've done in my life.

"I worked for a whole year-and-a-half [after child birth]. I had to first lose weight, then I had to try to find the time to train in a certain way to get back to the professional level. It takes a lot when you're a full-time mother as well.

"The child doesn't understand what you're doing, but the fact is that we [mothers] should also be allowed to go after our dreams like everyone else," explained Mirza, who is looking to return to the game again next month.

"I'm just going to start playing in Doha in March, so I'm preparing for that. Doha and then Dubai are my first two tournaments. And of course, the [Tokyo] Olympics is something that I had made a comeback for last year [but it got postponed due to the pandemic], so that's at the back of my mind too," she added.

‘Osaka favourite'

Speaking of her favourites for the Australian Open, Mirza said: "My favourite was Serena but now it's Osaka. She has the experience of winning three Slams, so she will have the edge over [American] Jennifer Brady. And among the men, Novak [Djokovic] has won this title so many times, I'm sure he'll bring his ‘A' game to
the final."